Cashier Girl
by starry night blue
Summary: [COMPLETE!] When a certain pop star comes into the restaurant where Sora works, her first feeling towards him was complete hatred, especially since he came in before she could end her shift early. Little does she know that her feelings might just change.
1. Chapter 1

**D/C: I don't own Digimon. **

**Hello!! Well, I've got the idea to this story ages ago, but I didn't get a chance to write it until now. The first chapter was really so much fun to write, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Happy Reading!!**

**CASHIER GIRL**

**Chapter 1:**

"Here you go. A large cheese burger, a large pack of fries, and an extra large coke. Have a nice day!"

Smiling, Sora Takenouchi handed the take-away order to her last customer and glanced around at the now-empty fast food restaurant where she worked, before checking the time on her wrist-watch. It was only seven fifty p.m. and she was surprised that the shop had emptied early tonight. Her manager, Marty, stepped out of the door at the back that led to the kitchens, and stood at the counter next to her. He looked around at his restaurant.

"No one's left, eh?" he said, looking slightly disappointed. He smiled down at her. "Tell you what, Sora, if no one else comes in through that door by eight o'clock, you can pack your things and leave, alright? I could hold down the fort with Jimmy and Seth until nine thirty."

Sora grinned at him. "Really? Oh, thank you so much, Marty!!" she said gratefully, for her cashiering shift usually ended at nine thirty. "I have this important history quiz tomorrow and I really needed to get back home and study!"

Marty waggled his eyebrows at her. "You think I don't know that? I caught you sneaking to the back to study when no customers were around," he told her, and she blushed, embarrassed that she'd been caught. He laughed and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "That's alright. I remember the days when I used to do the exact same things. Such fine days those were. If only I were still young."

Sora had to exercise a lot of self-control to prevent herself from giggling. This was so typical of Marty, mourning over his days of youth and wishing he could go back to them; Sora had gotten pretty used to him. He smiled at her, patted her head and left to the back, leaving her alone in the empty restaurant. She propped her elbows against the counter and started counting the seconds till eight o'clock, while praying that no one came through the door. Time seemed to pass very slowly, and then, at one minute to eight, a black sports car started slowing down before the restaurant, and she crossed her fingers. To her dismay, the car stopped right in front of the shop and a blond guy came waltzing in through the door.

Trying really hard not to snap out at the guy for coming right before the end of her shift, she forced a bright smile on her face. Marty once made remark about her smile, asking her in which school did she learn to smile so widely like that even when she hated the person in front of her. "Hello, sir, how may I help you?" she asked, secretly hoping that all he wanted was take-away.

"Hey, babe, 'sup?" he said, flashing her a dazzling smile, before plopping down on a stool before her.

Sora blinked. "E-excuse me?" she sputtered. "What did you just call me?"

Blond Guy frowned questioningly at her. "I called you a babe," he told her. "Or do you not like to be called a babe?"

Sora tried to look dignified. "Yes, I'm afraid I do not like to be called a babe," she said firmly, and Blond Guy's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She took out her notepad and pencil and smiled at him again. "So, what would you like to order?"

"Whoa, sweetheart, what's with that attitude?" he said, looking mildly affronted. He looked at the name pad which she safety-pinned to her shirt. "Sora Takenouchi, is it? Miss Takenouchi, I hardly think that I've said anything which would require such an attitude from you."

Sora frowned at him. "I don't have an attitude..._sir_," she said, and smiled at him again. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like you to tell me what you'd like to eat tonight so I could give you your order and you be off on your way."

Blond Guy stared at her with polite puzzlement. "Off on my way? Whoever said I wanted take-away in the first place, eh?' he said. He grinned at her and folded his arms against the counter. "Nope. I'm ordering and staying right here."

Sora's expression fell; gone was her early ride back home. "You...are?" she said. "I mean, you are! Of course you are!!"

"Yup! I don't like take-aways, anyway; they're not as fresh as when you get them in the restaurant itself," he said, matter-of-factly.

Sora nodded. "Of course. The last thing we'd want to do is provide you with meals which are not fresh," she told him. _Maybe I can secretly put poison in his food when Marty's not looking. _"So, what is it that you'd like to order, then?"

Blond Guy frowned down at the menu which was lying on the counter before him. "Hmm, let's see...I'd like a double beef burger and...an extra large pack of fries and an extra large coke, please," he told her.

Sora noted them down. "Alright. If you'll just a wait, sir, we'll have your order ready in no time!" she said cheerfully.

She made a show of ripping the paper from the pad, before turning on her heels and stomping towards the door. She flung it open and stepped into the kitchen, where she saw Marty sitting having a peaceful drag at a cigarette, while Jimmy and Seth, the two guys who helped Marty in the kitchen, sat and watched a football game on the TV. She looked at her manager in dismay.

"Marty! You're not supposed to smoke in here! Honestly, if we got tested for sanitation and cleanliness, we'd be out of here in no time!" she said, reproachfully. She rounded on the two other guys. "Jimmy! Seth! You should've stopped him!"

Seth and Jimmy both waved an impatient hand at her, but Marty smiled apologetically at her and quickly put out his cigarette. "You're right. Sorry," he said, looking sheepish. "So? Off to study history, then?"

Sora sighed. "I wish," she mumbled, and handed him the slip of paper. He chuckled when he read it, while she, on the other hand, scowled. "This annoying blond guy came in at the last minute and now just doesn't seem to want to leave!"

Marty shook a warning finger at her. "Now, Sora, what have I told you about bad-mouthing our customers?" he said, and she hung her head. "Now run along and keep the guy company while I get his order ready. Be polite, okay?"

"Okay, okay," she muttered, heading out to the front again. Blond Guy was still there, swiveling around on the stool. He grinned and sat upright when he saw her. Sora gave him her most professional smile. "Your order will be ready in a few minutes, sir."

"No hurries," he assured her, and she just nodded. He folded his arms on the counter again and leaned forward towards her. "Hey. You don't seem to know me, do you?"

Sora frowned, confused. She shook her head just a fraction. "No...I don't think I know you," she replied, although she had to admit that his face looked rather familiar; as if she'd seen it somewhere before. She wouldn't forget a face like that; blue eyes, blond hair, perfect features...or she might, probably. "Should I?"

"Well, that hurt," he said indignantly. He pouted, and Sora had to try her best not to roll her eyes. "Does the name Matt Ishida ring a bell?"

Sora racked her brain for that name, and then she smacked her forehead. "Oh, yes! Now I remember!" she exclaimed, and Blond Guy looked really pleased. "You're Matt Ishida! You're a singer...or something like that, right?"

The smile slipped off of his face. "I'm not something like that! I'm Matt Ishida, one of the world's most popular pop idols!" he protested.

Sora gave him a patronizing smile. "Of course you are," she replied. She did remember the guy clearly now; he was a popular singer, and a lot of girls in her school would die for him...but personally, she didn't like him that much. In fact, she thought his music was just a load of crap. "I'm sorry, Mr. Ishida; it just slipped my mind."

Matt Ishida stared at her, bewildered. "Slipped your mind? _Slipped your mind_?" he repeated, incredulously. "I just can't slip anyone's mind!! I'm Matt Ishida! My records sell by millions every single day! You just can't go and tell me it slipped your mind!"

Sora was taken aback. _Wow! Talk about having self-esteem issues! _"I'm sorry, sir, I'll try not to let that happen next time," she apologized.

"You betcha you will! Wait here a sec, okay?" he said, and hurried outside to his car. Sora stared at him as he came running back inside with a CD case. He held it up before her so that she could see it was one of his records. He took out a pen and signed the case, before handing it to her. "There you go. This way you won't ever forget it me."

Sora, gingerly, accepted the CD from him and placed it aside. She bowed her head slightly. "Thank you for the kind gift, Mr. Ishida," she told him politely. Of course, on the inside, she was saying, "_Get the hell out of here, you bastard, before I wrench your guts out!_".

-

An hour and a half later, the self-proclaimed pop idol called Matt Ishida was still sitting at the counter, talking and stuffing his face at the same time...and Sora had to endure the whole thing. When he finished his order, Sora thought that he would leave, but to her dismay, he had gone and ordered a second King-size burger, and when that was over, he had ordered another burger. He had ordered seven times altogether. Even though that meant that Seth and Jimmy hated to work while there was a football game playing on TV, but she knew they were having a good gloat at her expense.

"And then I told my manager, I can't possibly go on-stage wearing that glittery shirt! Dude, that would seriously ruin my reputation!" he told her, and Sora nodded and laughed, same way she had been doing through-out what she liked to call the "torture process". She had only managed to keep going the whole time by thinking up ways to kill the guy. "I mean, can you believe him? How could he even think I could wear that shirt?"

She glanced at her watch, and to her immense joy, found that it had become nine thirty. She smiled down at the idol. "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid you're going to have to leave now," she told him, and tapped her watch. "We close at nine thirty."

Matt looked disappointed. "Oh, you do?" he murmured. He hastily reached for a tissue and wiped his mouth clean. He reached into his jacket for his wallet. "Well...it was good while it lasted. How much do I owe you, then?"

Sora did a quick calculation on her cashier. "Your orders amount to...sixty five dollars and fifty cents," she told him politely.

The guy looked surprised. "Wow, I ate a sixty five dollars worth of fast food? That should be a record, or something!" he exclaimed, and she smiled. He grinned sheepishly and handed her the right amount. He got up to his feet and held out his hand for her to shake it. "Good bye, then, Miss Takenouchi."

Sora frowned at him, and then she reached out a took his hand. "Good b..." she started, but froze when Matt pulled her towards him across the counter and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Feeling really angry, she pulled away from him and staggered back, while holding a hand to her cheek. "What do you think you're doing?"

He grinned at her. "Sorry, but I just don't do handshakes!" he said, cheerfully. "See you later!!"

He turned on his heels and hurried out of the restaurant. Moments later, he pulled his car out on to the road and sped away, leaving Sora standing there with her hand still her on cheek, while she tried to digest what had happened. There was a low whistle from behind her, and Sora whirled around to see Jimmy and Seth.

"That was one _good_ customer, eh?" Jimmy teased her.

"She always gets the good ones, doesn't she?" Seth said.

"Shut up, you two!" she snapped, blushing furiously. _Hate. That was the word. H. A. T. E. HATE!!!_

_-_

"No way!! It's just...no way!!"

Sora sighed. She was in the restaurant, working her shift, but now, most of her customers had been served and were sitting at their tables, while she sat and chatted with her friend from school, Mimi Tashikawa. She had told Mimi about her run-in with Matt Ishida yesterday, and her friend's reaction was just what she had expected; all squeals and bright eyes which even had stars in them. In fact, Mimi had been repeating the same phrase for the last five minutes, "No way! It's just...no way!".

"Yes way, Mimi, so you'd better stop saying no way because you've giving me a headache," she told her, and Mimi blushed, embarrassed. "I really can't see why it's such a big deal, anyway. I met Matt Ishida at the restaurant...and then?"

Mimi stared at her like some she's derived lunatic or something. "Are you kidding? You met the world's most popular, most handsome, most cool guy ever!" she squealed. "You can't just meet him and say and then? It's not logical!"

Sora was really grateful she hadn't told Mimi that Matt had kissed her. "Mimi, for God's sake, let it go, okay?" she said wearily. "I'd rather just forget the whole experience, anyway."

Mimi shook her head. "Girl, you should go seek mental help," she told her, and Sora shot her a warning look. Mimi hastily scooped up her duffel bag and slid off of the stool. "Alright, so I'll get going now. It's getting late and I still have tons of homework. See you at school tomorrow!"

Sora waved her friend off, and slumped down against the counter once she'd left. She was already cursing herself for telling Mimi what had happened, for she was positive that by tomorrow morning, the whole school would know about the Matt Ishida incident. She watched, with a polite smile on her face, as her customers started filing out the shop. Unlike Matt, they had paid before-hand. She left her position behind the cashier and started cleaning the tables, shoving the paper plates and cups into the garbage can, and piling the trays on top of each other. She carried the whole lot back to the kitchen.

"No sign of our celebrity tonight, eh?" Seth said, faking disappointment, and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"It's not funny, Seth, alright?" she muttered. "He was probably just a guy looking for a cheap hussy and was just really bugged because the only thing he got was a forced kiss on the cheek, and he's most probably not coming back either...so drop it, okay?"

"Okay," Seth agreed, with the air of some one who really wasn't going to drop it.

"Marty, tell them!" she protested.

"Seth, stop teasing Sora," Marty said absently. "Jimmy...where's Jimmy?"

At that moment, Jimmy came in through the backdoor, looking like he was about to burst out with laughter. "You won't believe who just came in!!" he said. He looked around and saw Sora. "Erm...yeah! It's the garbage truck!"

Sora rolled her eyes and went back to the front of the restaurant. Her jaw nearly dropped when she saw who was sitting on the stool right where he had sat last night. Blond Guy. Mr. Matt Ishida, who looked positively delighted to see her. She could already hear the laughter coming from the kitchens. Nevertheless, she forced on a pleasant smile and stepped up towards him.

"Well, hello, sir! It's such a pleasant surprise, seeing you here again!" she exclaimed.

"You'd better get used to it, because this restaurant has officially become my favorite!" he told her.

"Oh, is that so? That's excellent!" she said, brightly. "I can't begin to tell you how happy we are to have you as a regular customer!!"

_This just can't be happening to me!!_

**-**

**A/N: There! Done! My first chapter!! So, what did you think? It was pretty cool, wasn't it? But don't worry, Sora's attitude towards Matt will change later on; I've got a lot more planned for those two. Anyway, if you did like the story, then will you please review? Thanks!**

_- S. N. B. _


	2. Chapter 2

**D/C: I don't own Digimon. **

**Hello! I'm back!! First of all, may I say how thankful I am for all the wonderful reviews you've sent me? Seriously, I didn't expect my story to get that much attention, and I was so happy when I got a lot of reviews! 8 is a good number! Well, anyway, I'll stop babbling now and let you get on with the story. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 2:**

'Sora, you're here! I was starting to think that you weren't coming today!'

Sora managed a smile at Marty. She really hadn't been planning on going to work today, because she already knew what...or rather, _who_ was going to be waiting for her at the restaurant. Four days had passed since that wretched night when she'd met the idiot called Matt Ishida, and he just seemed to have taken a knack to popping there every night, and it was driving her nuts. She was even starting to think about quitting the job. If it weren't for Marty's policy about respecting each and every customer, she'd have kicked the guy outside the instant she saw him. School had been just as horrible, for just as she had expected, Mimi had spread the word and now each and every single person wanted to hassle her for details.

'Whatever might give you that idea?' she told him, an she shrugged. 'Well, I'm here now, so I guess we can open up, right?'

Marty nodded. He opened the store and Sora had barely taken her position behind the cashier when the customers starting flooding in. The first hours of business were quite okay to handle, especially since Matt usually came in at eight, which meant that she had the first four hours of her shift in total peace. When the time neared eight o'clock, she had already started feeling the heavy weight of her annoying customer. Sure, enough, at eight o'clock, he came in through the door.

'Hello, Sora!' he exclaimed, plopping down on the stool before her.

Sora managed a strained smile, wondering when on Earth she had allowed him to call her by her first name. 'Hey,' she said warmly. 'Right on time, aren't you?'

'Of course I am,' he said cheerfully. 'I wouldn't want to let you down, now, would I?'

Sora nodded, smiling pleasantly. 'Of course you wouldn't,' she agreed. 'So, what will you be having, sir? The usual?'

He nodded, and Sora noted it down and went back to the kitchen. She found Seth and Jimmy there, watching her with keen interest. 'Yes, he's here,' she muttered, and they both laughed and exchanged a high five. Sora sighed in exasperation, handed Marty the slip, who in turn gave her an encouraging smile, before returning to her customer. 'Your order will be ready in a few minutes.'

Again, for the forth time that week, Sora had to sit an endure the "torture process", and her ways of murdering the guy had become more creative by the minute. Matt was droning on about his tours and concerts, and all is fans...he also told her that he was going to be writing his biography, and that he would be glad to give her a signed one. Sora managed a thin smile then, and found herself counting the seconds till it became nine thirty, and when it did, she couldn't help the sigh of relief which escaped her lips.

'Mr. Ishida, it's nine thirty, I'm afraid, and we have to close,' she told him.

Matt glanced at his watch. 'Oh, it is already? My, time flies by quickly when you're having a good time, right?' he said, and she smiled politely. She handed him the bill, he paid, and left with a wave of his hand.

Sora waved until the car was out of sight, and then she slumped down against the counter. 'Oh, thank God! I thought he would never leave!' she mumbled. She straightened up and went back to the kitchen to fetch her coat. 'He's gone. So, if you don't mind, I'm leaving. God knows how much I need to get out of here.'

Seth opened his mouth to make a remark, but immediately clamped it shut when she glared at him. She pulled on her coat, waved good bye at the guys, and left through the back door of the restaurant to alleyway behind it. To her extreme shock, she found a black sports car parked there, and Matt Ishida was standing there, leaning against it. Sora had to stop herself from strangling him at the moment, and calmly walked towards him.

'Sir, what are you still doing here? I thought you'd left!' she said, trying to appear mildly surprised.

Matt shrugged. He smiled at her. 'I thought I'd give you a ride back home,' he told her. 'I assumed you'd be too tired to walk, considering you don't have a car or anything.'

Sora smiled forcibly. 'Well, that's too kind of you, sir, but...' she said, and suddenly froze. She was all too aware of the fact that she wasn't on her shift any more, and now, this guy wasn't a customer; he was just like any other jerk she met on the streets. She scowled. 'Thank you. But I think I prefer to go home on my own.'

Her sudden change of attitude took him by surprise. 'I was only offering you a ride back home, what's so wrong about that?' he asked her.

'What's wrong? Fine! I'll tell you what's wrong!' she snapped. Rock star or no rock star; to her, a jerk is a jerk. She jabbed a finger in his chest. 'What's wrong is that I bloody hate you!! I've hated you ever since you came in through that door the first time! I only pretended that I liked you because our restaurant's policy declares that all our customers have to be treated with respect! That's all! If it weren't for that, I would've told you to get the hell out of my face! So, leave me alone, alright? Because I just can't stand you!'

Matt looked really shocked. 'But I thought you liked me,' he croaked.

Sora knew that she was being rather aggressive, but she just couldn't help it; all that anger she had kept bottled up for the past five days was coming out now...and now that it was out, she didn't feel like she could stop it. 'Well, I don't, okay? I don't like you or your music! You think you're so cool with your sports car and designer clothes and your music, but here's the breaking news, buddy, you aren't!' she exploded. 'You're simply a shallow snob; I don't like your attitude, your personality and the way you talk! Even your music sucks! Honestly, I can't believe that some people would actually call that crap music!'

Matt was stumped. 'What are you talking about? I thought you loved my music! You said so yourself!' he protested.

'Well, I lied! I lied about your stupid music! Now, if you don't mind, I'd rather you left me alone!' she shot at him. She moved around him and headed down the alleyway and stepped out on the pavement of the main street. 'Don't let me see your face again!'

Keeping her chin up, she walked down the pavement without a single backwards glance at him. She sighed in exasperation when she heard the screech of tyres indicating that he had pulled out of the alleyway, and felt, rather than saw, him driving the car slowly next to her.

'Sora, please, let me give you a ride home!' he pleaded. 'Let us at least talk about this!'

'There's nothing to talk about,' she said firmly, without even looking at him. 'You're a selfish snob, and I hate you. End of story.'

'Okay, fine, we won't talk! Just let me give you a ride home!' he pleaded.

'No!' she said angrily. 'And besides, I'm not even going home!'

'Well, where are you going?' he asked her. 'Maybe I can drive you there. I'll save you both the time and effort.'

Sora rounded on him. She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. 'Listen, here, Ishida; I told you that I don't want a ride, so leave me alone!' she snapped. 'If you don't, I'll call the police and turn you in for harassing me!'

Matt looked affronted. 'What are you talking about?' he demanded. 'I'm not harassing you!'

She gestured wildly a his car. 'Oh, yeah? And what do you call this? You stay glued to the restaurant every night talking to me when I obviously hate you, and now you're following me around trying to give me a ride home!' she exploded. 'Don't tell me that that's not harassment!'

Matt blinked. 'Erm...it's not?' he said, confused. Sora threw her arms up in exasperation and started down the street again. Matt drove after her. 'Sora, come on, for God's sake! I'm not harassing you! I'm just being polite!'

Sora ignored him. She kept on walking, earning herself curious stares from passer-bys, and she had to admit that they were a rather peculiar sight, with her walking down the street and Matt following her in his car. It was only when the familiar café she always went to came into view that she started to feel relaxed. She pushed the door open and stepped inside, without bothering to see if Matt had stopped and decided to come in as well. She greeted the café's owner and went deeper into the cafe until she got to the magnificent piano that was kept there for whoever wanted to play it.

Sora loved playing the piano; she'd taken lessons when she was a kid, and had grown really fond of it. Her family wasn't rich enough to get her a piano of her own, and so she always came here after her shift ended so she could play the piano a bit. She also was a quite good singer, but that was something she didn't share with anybody; she felt that her songs were personal, and were only for her to hear.

She plopped down on the bench in front of the piano and lifted the lid of the piano. She poised her fingers over the keys and took a deep breath, and then she started playing a Beethoven tune, him being her favorite musician. Every time she sat there and played she felt like she was losing herself in the notes. She especially came at night, because the café was much quieter then.

Suddenly, she felt some one breathing down her neck, and she stumbled across the keys. Feeling irritated, she turned around. 'You!' she said angrily, seeing that it was Matt who was standing next to her. 'What the hell are you doing here?'

He held up a large mug. 'I came in for coffee,' he said, looking defiantly at her. 'Nothing wrong with that, am I right?'

Sora scowled. 'Yes, you're right,' she muttered. 'But, if you don't mind, I'd rather you left me alone so I can play the piano in peace.'

'Actually, I do mind,' he replied, and to her immense surprise, he sat down on the bench next to her and nudged her aside with his hip to make more room for him. She stared incredulously at him, and he just smiled pleasantly at her. 'I don't believe that this piano is your property, right? Which, therefore, means that I'm allowed to use it as much as you do, and I choose to sit here on this bench next to you.'

Sora opened her mouth to say something, thought better of it and clamped it shut again. She scowled at him, and turned back to the piano. She started playing a different tune...a more fierce one. She was quite surprised at how smoothly she was able to play the notes this time, because she always seemed to make mistakes in this piece. She was all too aware that Matt was watching her, but she didn't care; in fact, she wanted him to watch so he could have an idea about how real music should be.

She was quite irritated, however, when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She glared at him. 'What?' she snapped.

Matt smiled at her. 'I was wondering...could you, perhaps, play a more gentle tune?' he asked her politely. 'It's just that I'm not a fan of these fast and violent tunes.'

She stared incredulously at him. 'You're a rock star!! Fast and violent is _your _field of music!!' she said angrily.

'Well, that's true,' he agreed. He felt the smooth edge of the piano with his fingers. 'But...this is a piano; it's different than rock music, and when it comes to piano, I prefer much gentler music. So, please, play a softer tune, alright?'

Sora continued to stare at him. 'What if I don't want to play a softer tune?' she demanded.

'In that case...' he said, and grabbed both her hands and placed them in her lap. Then he poised his fingers over the keys. '...allow me to play.'

He started playing a very difficult Mozart tune flawlessly. Sora sat staring at him, feeling angry and jealous of his great ability to play the piano; it just really bugged her that a shallow rock star was capable of playing a piano, which in itself was very classic. He leaned against her to reach out for the keys at her side of the piano, and was so close to her that his hair was tickling her face, and she had to lean backwards away from him. After a few minutes, she was unable to take it anymore and she got up to her feet. Matt stopped playing at once, and frowned up at her.

'What's the matter? Don't you want to play the piano anymore?' he asked.

Sora had to fight the impulse to murder him. 'You know what, Ishida? I don't know what your problem is, but I've had it with you, okay?' she seethed. 'Who the hell do you think you are to force yourself on me like that? I come here to play the piano and relax, but then you come along and ruin the whole thing! I don't like you! So why don't you just take the hint and leave me the hell alone?'

'Why, though? What is it about me that you hate so much?' he said, and Sora could hear a definite edge to his voice.

That's when Sora understood why he was following her around. She folded her arms against her chest and smiled down at him. 'I see the problem here,' she said, with an air of someone who had won some kind of war. 'You're just annoyed that there is actually a girl in this huge universe who isn't all over you, isn't that right? That's why you've been following me around! You were trying to get me to like you, right?'

'What? Of course not! That's bull!' he scoffed.

Sora grinned mischievously. 'Oh, my God! I am right!! You _are _annoyed because I don't like you!' she exclaimed.

'I'm not annoyed, okay?' he said, rather angrily. 'What a load of crap! Annoyed, she says!'

Sora narrowed her eyes at him. 'If that's so, then don't follow me again,' she said testily, before turning on her heels and walking away from him. _Damn! This guy definitely has zero self-esteem! And I thought celebrities were the confident ones!_

_-_

**A/N: Well? What did you think of my second chapter? Was it good? I really hope Sora's attitude wasn't considered over-reacted, because, think, if you were in her place, wouldn't you burst out like she did if you'd been badgered by some one for a while? Anyway, I do hop you like it because I'll be wanting reviews!!**

_- S. N. B. _


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I don't own Digimon.**

**Hello!! I'm back with my third chapter!! I'm so glad you liked my last one; I was worried that some of you won't like the way Sora had exploded, but that's over now. Thank you all for the nice reviews you've sent me, and without further ado, I'll leave you to read. Enjoy!!**

**Chapter 3:**

'Have a good day, sir.'

The customer Sora had been serving left and she started to smile as the door opened and another customer walked in. But the smile slipped off of her face as she saw who it was. Matt Ishida. She had hoped that her words had knocked some sense into that guy, but obviously, they hadn't. Almost automatically, she turned on her heels and went back into the kitchens. She untied her apron and threw it at Jimmy, who looked in surprise at her.

'You're up for today,' she told him in a flat tone.

Comprehension dawned upon his face and he smirked. 'I see. Is lover boy in, then?' he asked her, while Seth guffawed behind him.

Sora stuck her tongue out at him. 'Just get out there, will you?' she muttered. She looked around at her boss. 'You don't mind, Marty, do you?'

'Actually, I do mind,' Marty said, to her astonishment. She opened her mouth to protest, but stopped when she saw that he wasn't done talking yet. 'He saw you standing there at the counter, didn't he? Now, if he'd seen you standing there and come back in here when he stepped into the restaurant, he might think you're being rude. And would you be kind enough to remind me what our policy is?'

'Respect all customers no matter what they do,' the three of them chorused.

Marty smiled at them. 'That's right,' he said, and Sora sighed in exasperation. He shot a sharp look in her direction. 'Sora, you're dear to me and everything, but if you can't stick to my policy, then I'm afraid I must ask you to hang your apron and leave.'

Sora's jaw worked furiously for a few seconds, and then she grabbed her apron out of Jimmy's hands and walked out of the door without another word. She hastily tied it around her waist and smiled at Matt. 'Well, hello, sir,' she said, trying to sound pleasant. She took out her pen and notepad. 'How are you today?'

Matt blinked. 'Back to being nice to me again, aren't you?' he muttered. 'But what about last night? Damn; doesn't this restaurant give you any _self_-respect?'

Sora couldn't believe that she was actually still smiling. The hand gripping her pen shook and she had to restrain herself from sticking its sharp and pointy tip into his hand, which was lying on the counter. 'I don't believe I know what you're talking about, sir,' she said smoothly. 'So, what would you like to order today?'

Matt smiled at her. 'Can I order you out on a date with me?' he said, folding his arms against the counter and leaning forward towards her.

Sora's smile wavered. 'We serve cheese burgers, chicken burgers, beef burgers, ham burgers, fish burgers...and these come with a packet of fries and a coke of your own choice,' she said in a flat tone, recalling the slogan Marty's forced her to learn when she first came here to work. 'We also offer appetizers such as onion rings and mozzarella sticks and boiled corn. What would you like to order, sir?'

'Don't be like that,' he chided her. 'Try me for once, why don't you?'

'So you'll be taking the usual, then, right, sir?' she asked him. 'A double-beef burger and an extra-large pack of fries and an extra-large coke?'

'You know, if you only try to push me away, I'll end up feeling more attracted to you,' Matt said, matter-of-factly.

_God! How can he even stand himself?_ 'Will you be having your meal here or is it going to be take-away?' she said, her voice strained.

'Come on, Sora,' he pleaded. 'One date! Just one date! What have you got to lose, eh?'

'Take-away, it is, then. I'll have your order ready in one minute, sir,' she said, smiling triumphantly at him. Matt opened his mouth to protest, but she had already went for the kitchen. 'Listen up. Our esteemed customer would like to have the usual...but this time, he wants it as a take-away. Don't keep him waiting!'

Marty stared at her. 'O-oy! Sora!! How did you get him to have take-away?' he demanded. 'Don't tell me you bullied him into it! Sora, please remember our policy!'

Sora rolled her eyes. 'I did nothing gout of the restaurant's policy, Marty,' she assured him, and heard Seth say, "Yeah, right," from behind her. 'Mr. Ishida wants his take-away to be ready in one minute because he's in a bit of a hurry. So, it's one double-beef burger, one extra-large pack of fries and one extra-large coke.'

They all shot her a suspicious look before starting to work on Matt's order. She was lucky that they had been already making a double-beef burger when she came in, and that the fries they had been frying were already done. It was only two minutes before they had his order ready, and she quickly took it outside for him.

'There you go,' she said cheerfully, handing it to Matt.

He was looking really disgruntled. 'But I didn't want take-away,' he protested. 'I wanted to sit here and eat.'

Sora shot him a sympathetic look. 'I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid changing orders according to one's mood is not part of our service,' she told him. She shoved the take-away bag into his arms. 'That'll be seven dollars, please.'

Still looking extremely disgruntled, Matt dug his wallet out of the pocket of his jeans and handed her the cash. 'You don't suppose I could order something else and stick around, do you?' he asked her, sounding a bit hopeful.

'Have a good day, sir,' Sora said pleasantly, and gestured at the door. _Operation "Get rid of Matt Ishida" is a success!!_

-

'I don't know what is it about this girl, Tai! I mean, I know she hates me but I just can't get myself to stop following her!!'

Matt was in his apartment, talking to his friend, Taichi Yagami, while he paced around in the living room. The take-away order he had gotten from the restaurant where Sora worked had served as a meal for his friend, as he was already working his way through the burger. The huge LCD screen TV was playing one of his music videos in the background, which Matt had played to help him relax a bit, but that didn't seem to work.

'It makes me look downright pathetic!' he groaned. 'Today, she particularly _threw_ me out of the restaurant! She just kept on ignoring my requests for a date, and then she got my something which I didn't even order, and gestured to the door!'

'This is really good, by the way,' Tai commented, indicating the burger. Matt just narrowed his eyes at him. 'Well, how come you didn't stick around after she gave you the order? I mean, even if she had wanted you to leave, you could've just sat there and she wouldn't have been able to do a thing about it.'

Matt frowned; his friend did have a point there. 'I dunno,' he murmured. 'I mean, I didn't think of staying there after she gave me my order...maybe I didn't want her hating me more than she already did; I'm really not sure.'

'What can I say, mate...you're obviously smitten,' Tai teased him, and Matt only grunted. 'Well...is she pretty?'

'She's okay...I mean, she's not pretty in a striking kind of way, you know?' he murmured. 'Reddish-brown hair...hazel eyes. Medium height. A nice body. She's not the type I'm normally attracted to, but for some reason, I just can't seem to leave her alone. And when I'm around her, all I seem to do is make myself appear like a total jerk.'

'That's nice. No wonder she hates you,' Tai said sarcastically.

'You're not helping me, Tai,' Matt hissed.

'Look here, Matt, all you have to do is act like your own self when you're around her, and you'll be fine,' his friend told him. 'You know when you're nervous how you end up acting like a jerk just so that you could ease the pressure of you a bit? Well, don't do that. Act like your own self, that's the only piece of advice I can give you.'

Matt snorted. 'Gee, Tai, when did you become such an expert in the girls' department?' he demanded.

'H-hey!! Is this how you repay me for giving you a useful piece of advice?' Tai said irritably. 'Sheesh! Some friend you are!'

'Sorry, sorry,' Matt said, sheepishly. 'Alright, so you're saying I should just be myself, right?'

'Precisely,' Tai declared.

Suddenly, his cell phone rang, and he reached out and grabbed it from the coffee table. 'Just a minute, Tai,' he said, and pressed the phone to his ear. 'Hello?'

'Yamato, my dear boy, how are you?' came Anthony's voice on the other end. Matt had to stop himself from groaning; he really wasn't in the mood for his manager at the moment. 'I know you hate me calling you at such a time, but I just want you to remember the photo-shoot session at eight thirty today.'

The photo-shoot; he'd entirely forgotten about that. He plopped down on the couch next to Tai, who was still eating the burger, and started to go through the box which was on the table and was filled with fan-mail. 'Can't that be rescheduled, Anthony?' he asked.

'Rescheduled?' Anthony repeated, his voice betraying a note of surprise. 'But, Matt! You know Philippe never _ever_ reschedules!! He's on high demand, you know; it was extremely difficult to get an appointment with him to start with!!'

Matt's eyes ran over the complete gibberish one fan girl had written on her card. 'I know that, Anthony, but I don't feel like doing this today!' he grumbled. 'We'll schedule some other appointment with Philippe...I...I already have something to do by that time.'

'Something else?' Anthony said angrily. 'Matt, this photo-shoot is important!! We need those photos for your new album!'

'I don't care; get something out of the old portfolio. Bye, Anthony!' he said quickly, and hung up before his manager could utter any other word. Tossing the card back into the box, he turned back to Tai. 'You know, Taichi? I just might take your advice on this.'

Tai just nodded, his mouth full.

-

'I'm outta here, guys! Have fun cleaning!'

Sora just caught a glimpse of Seth and Jimmy glaring at her before she closed the backdoor of the restaurant shut. She hefted her backpack over her shoulder and made her way towards the main street, and took her usual route towards the café. She was feeling rather pleased with herself, having managed to deal perfectly with Matt Ishida earlier that day, so, even though she was saving her money for university next year, she decided to treat herself to some luxury treat at the café.

She opened the door to the café and stepped inside. She headed directly for the piano, and sank down on the bench; she sat in the middle, just in case _some one _decided to join her. She had barely started to warm up when a waitress came forward and presented her with a foamy mug of cappuccino and a large chocolate muffin. She blinked in surprise. 'Erm...what's that for?' she asked, confused.

'Well, we were told to give you this when you came in,' she told her. 'It's already been paid for. Indulge. Some one out there seems to like you.'

'Erm...didn't you find out who it was?' Sora asked.

The waitress shook her head. 'The guy only called us up, so...' she said, and let her voice trail off as she smiled apologetically at her.

'Well, I'll have them, anyway, I guess,' she murmured, and the girl placed them on the surface of the piano. 'It's free coffee after all, right?'

Still wondering about who might've bought the coffee and the muffin for her, she turned back to her piano. She took a sip out of the mug and placed her fingers on the keys. Any thoughts about her mysterious guy were wiped clear out of her head as she started playing. She was feeling really relaxed today; there was no doubt about it, Matt Ishida had been the cause of all her stress, and it felt so good to have him out of her system now.

When she got up to leave the place, it was getting pretty late, and she doubted she'd be able to find a cab now. She knew her folks wouldn't say anything about her being late, mainly because her mother was out of town, and her father usually stayed out in pubs till the crack of dawn. She popped the last of her chocolate muffin in her mouth, pulled her backpack over her shoulder and headed out of the café.

Sora stood at the side of the road, hoping that a cab might pass by; she really didn't fancy walking home at such a late hour...especially since her house was really far away from this place. She pulled her coat tightly around her, and decided to wait for about ten minutes. If, by then, no cab showed up, she'd go home walking.

Three...five...eight minutes passed and there was still no sign of a cab. Random cars passed by without even a second look at her. She was about to turn on her heels and leave when a black sports car pulled right in front of her. Sora frowned at it for a moment...before it finally clicked. She stared in dismay as the driver's window was lowered to reveal a blond head and a dazzlingly-white smile.

'Hello! I hope I'm not late?' he said cheerfully.

'What the hell are you...?' she started, and let her voice trail off as she realized something. 'Oh, my God! It was you! You bought me the coffee and the muffin!'

Matt smiled modestly. 'Well, I don't suppose there's any point in denying it, so...yes; it was me,' he replied, and she couldn't help but utter a groan. 'I hope you had a good time?'

'Ye...no! Why should I be telling you anything?' she snapped, scowling down at him. 'What are you doing here? What do you mean, _I hope I'm not late_?'

He shrugged. 'Well, I had the waitress contact me the moment you left the café,' he explained. 'I mean, I knew you were probably going to stay in there for a while, and you wouldn't find a cab to take you back home when you left...so, I came here to offer you a ride.'

Sora stared at him, bewildered. 'No way!! What are you, a stalker of some kind?' she demanded. 'I already told you that I want nothing to do with you! Why can't you get that idea in through your head? Don't you remember what I told you back at the restaurant today?'

'Erm...you didn't really tell me anything,' he pointed out.

Sora opened her mouth to say something, but paused when she realized he was right; she hadn't, technically, told him anything. She scowled and folded her arms against her chest. 'Okay, so I didn't say anything, but I was obviously hinting it, and if you didn't get my hint, and if you don't, it doesn't mean that I have to explain myself to...' she said, and broke off when she heard him laughing. She frowned. 'What's so funny?'

'You! You're really funny!' he told her, and she didn't know whether to feel offended or not. 'You're just making up all sorts of excuses to stay away for me, when you don't even know the smallest things about me!!'

'I know that you're an arrogant bastard, and that's enough for me,' she retorted.

Matt tried to keep his cool. 'Come on, Sora, a ride wouldn't hurt anyone,' he said casually. 'And you do need a ride right now, don't you? I don't see any cabs around here.'

Sora gritted her teeth; he did have a point. She looked around hopefully, praying that a cab might suddenly show up, but the streets were fairly empty now. She sighed. 'Alright, fine, I'll take this ride with you,' she agreed. 'But it's just for this time.'

'Whatever you say,' he replied. 'Hop in.'

Feeling that this was a bad idea from the start, she walked around the car and climbed into the passenger seat next to him. She pulled the safety belt around her and settled back in her seat. 'Right, okay, I'm ready,' she murmured.

Matt chuckled. 'You sound like you're ready for a ride in hell or something,' he teased her, and she stuck her tongue out at him. 'Alright, so where is your house? I'm not a psychic, you know.'

Sora rolled her eyes, but she gave him the directions to her house. 'But...I want you to forget its location once I get out of your car,' she warned him, as he pulled out onto the road. 'I don't want you coming under my window in the middle of the night and going Romeo on me.'

'You think too much of yourself, don't you?' he replied.

Sora raised an eyebrow. 'Excuse me?' she said.

'Why would I go Romeo on you?' he demanded, looking directly at the road ahead of him. 'I mean, you're not exactly a model Juliet, are you? Juliet would be sweet, gentle and open to any kind of civil conversation...and you, I'm sorry to say, are her exact opposite.'

Sora mouthed silently for a moment; she certainly hadn't seen that coming, as she was expecting flirting, and not criticism. She scowled. 'I didn't know I was getting free insults along with my ride,' she said irritably. 'And besides, if I'm the exact opposite of your model Juliet, then why the hell do you keep harassing me?'

'I guess it's because you're the first one to bust up the image I've created about girls in general,' he told her. 'The girls I usually meet are shallow, annoying creatures with squeaky voices and hands that can reach inside your shirt.' Sora couldn't help but laugh at that. He smiled appreciatively at her. 'You should laugh more often; you look really pretty when you laugh.'

Involuntarily, she felt her cheeks warming up. 'Er...thanks,' she murmured. She cleared her throat. 'But I thought you liked all the attention; you always look so happy whenever you're surrounded by all your fans.'

'Well, I have to look happy,' he replied. 'I wouldn't sell that many albums if I threw off all my fans, would I?'

'True,' she agreed; she didn't really know for sure, but Matt seemed entirely different know. He seemed like a person she'd actually like to talk to. She leaned against her door. 'What's gotten into you?'

'Sorry?' he said, puzzled.

'You seem...different, somehow,' she told him.

'Different in a good way, or a bad way?' he asked.

'Good way, I think,' she replied.

Matt chuckled. 'I decided to take some one's advice and try to be myself,' he answered. 'I know I've been such a jerk to you, Sora, and I apologize for that. I'm really sorry you had to put up with me in the restaurant. I know I wouldn't have been able to stand me if I were in your place.'

Sora smiled. 'If you knew that, then why did you keep acting the same way?' she asked.

Matt stopped as the traffic light turned red, and he turned and looked directly at her. 'You may think it's silly, but I act that way when I'm nervous,' he told her, and she started to frown. 'And you, Miss Takenouchi, gave me butterflies.'

Sora stared at him for a moment, unsure of what she should be saying. 'Er...you do realize that that sounded really cheesy, don't you?' she remarked.

Matt laughed and looked back ahead of him. 'Yeah, I know,' he replied. 'Sorry; comes from writing _crappy_ songs, I guess.'

Sora felt herself turn red with embarrassment, realizing he was referring to her description of his songs. 'Erm...well, not all of them are bad,' she admitted, and he raised an eyebrow at her. 'Yeah, I listened to that CD you gave me, and even though it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to say it, they weren't that bad.'

'Thank you; it means a lot coming from you,' he told her, before shifting to Drive again as the traffic light turned green.

They didn't say anything for the rest of the ride, but Sora had to admit that she didn't feel anything remotely like hate towards a certain blond idol any more. If it were possible, it made her feel a bit warm inside when she looked at him...but she tried to ignore that feeling. She still didn't want to be involved with this guy; she was determined to keep the relationship going as long as this ride only.

But, when they pulled in front of her house, she sat there in her seat for a few moments, unsure of what she should be saying. 'Erm...well...' she murmured.

'You could say thank you,' he said, smiling.

She blushed. 'I knew that!!' she snapped. 'Th-thank you for the ride; I really appreciate it.'

'You're most welcome,' he replied. 'Don't I get anything else?'

She scowled at him. 'Absolutely not,' she said firmly...and just when she had changed her opinion about him. Bummer. She climbed out of the car, slammed the door shut behind her and stormed up the front lane to her house. But she stopped and looked around when he called her. 'What?'

'Do I get to keep the address, then?' he asked.

_Say no. Just say no. You don't want him hovering around. Just say no. _

'Okay.'

-

**A/N: There you go! My third chapter! This has to be my longest chapter so far; I'm so proud of it!! How did you like this one, then? Sora's attitude towards Matt is starting to change for the better, don't you think? Well, I sure do hope you've like it, because I'll be wanting reviews!!**

- _S. N. B._


	4. Chapter 4

**D/C: I don't own Digimon.**

**_Konnichiwa!! _(Anime's rubbing on me) Time for my forth chapter!! The reviews you sent me last time were quite a handful; thank you so much! They made me really happy!! And now, without further ado, I'll leave you to read this chapter! Happy reading!!**

**Cashier Girl**

**Chapter 4:**

'You _what_?'

Sora was trying to look indifferent as Mimi stared at her; she could understand why this little piece of news she'd just revealed was such a big deal to her friend. She gave off a casual shrug. 'Matt offered me a ride, and I agreed to take it,' she replied. 'He took me home.'

Mimi's jaw worked furiously, and a jumble of emotions was showing in her face. 'He took you home? Are you serious?' she demanded. Sora could detect a trace of jealousy in her voice, and she just smiled and nodded. Mimi forced a smile and leaned back in her seat. 'And what happened to the I-don't-give-a-damn-about-celebrities deal, eh? I thought you did like Yamato and wished you could murder him?'

'Well, things change...and I didn't say anything about starting to care about celebrities, did I?' she said testily. 'It was really late and I didn't like the idea of walking home, and Matt was right there, you see...it would've been stupid to turn him down.'

Mimi was looking disgruntled now. 'And when did you start saying his name so casually, eh?' she asked.

'He calls me by my first name, and so I thought that it's only good manners that I call him by his first name, too,' she replied.

Sora didn't tell Mimi this, but she had actually really enjoyed the ride with Matt Ishida, now that she got to know how he really was. She was even looking forward to see him again, something she didn't think would've been remotely possible. So, when he came into the restaurant later at his usual time (eight o'clock), she found herself smiling at him...and this wasn't the trademark smile she gave to all the customers; this one was a much more friendly smile.

'Hello!' he said cheerfully.

'Hello, sir,' she replied. 'How are you today?'

'Aw, come on!' he protested, plopping down on a stool in front of her. 'You needn't call me "sir" anymore; we're friends now! You can call me Matt.'

Sora raised any eyebrow. 'I wouldn't know about this friends' thing, sir,' she replied, and his expression drooped slightly. 'A ride home doesn't really qualify one to be some one else's friend. Besides, I don't know if my boss would allow me to call the customers by their first name; it's against the respect policy.'

Matt chuckled. He folded his arms against the counter. 'Still giving me that cold treatment, are you?' he chided her, and she opened her mouth to protest, but he waved an impatient hand. 'Talk to me. Yesterday, I got you laughing...maybe I can do that again. I'd sure love to see you laugh again.'

A faint blush crept into her cheeks, and she had to strain to keep herself from smiling. 'Well, okay, I'll talk to you, sir,' she agreed.

'And I want you to call me by my first name; I don't want anymore of this "sir" nonsense,' he warned her, and she started to bring up the policy excuse again, but he cut her off. 'If you don't, I'll have to tell your boss that you're disrespecting my wishes.'

Sora gave a tight smile. 'Okay, Matt; you got what you wanted,' she told him, and he beamed happily at her. 'Don't you want to order first, though?'

He shook his head. 'Nah; I don't want to trouble you. I only used to order that many meals before so I could have an excuse to hang around you,' he admitted, and she blinked in surprise. He grinned at her. 'So, tell me, what did you do today? Don't miss out on the details.'

_Okay; that really wasn't what I was thinking about when he mentioned talking. _She looked around, and saw that no customers were waiting to be served, and she pulled a chair towards her and sat down on it. She, too, folded her arms against the counter. 'Let me see...I woke up, I went to the bathroom, freshened up, brushed my teeth...' she told him, and he frowned at her. 'You said you wanted details.'

'Not that many details!' he protested.

She laughed. 'Okay, okay...so I went to school, sat for this really annoying history quiz and tried to stay awake through the rest of the day,' she continued. She paused, trying to remember what else she had done that day. 'And then I had a bit of soccer practice, went home and had lunch, and came here to work.'

Matt was looking mildly surprised. 'Wow. That's really...' he said, and trailed off as he searched for the right word.

'Boring?' she said helpfully.

He shook his head. 'No! It's really normal!' he told her, and she frowned, wondering whether she should take this as an insult or not. 'I mean it! It's been ages since I've had a life which was even close to normal! Listening to you...it just surprises me that there are people who still live like that. Its so...pleasant.'

'Pleasant?' she repeated, confused, and he nodded. 'Oh, come on! People would kill to have the life you do! Money! Fame! Friends! Fans! You must me the ideal dream for most of the teenagers out there!'

'I would gladly give it all away...except that I've signed a five-year contract, and it's far from being over,' he mumbled. He placed his head against his arms on the counter. 'It's not like I've had a normal life before that, either.'

'You didn't?' she asked.

'No,' he murmured. He paused, as if he was uncertain about continuing, but Sora gestured for him to go on. 'My parents got divorced when I was still a kid. My mother got custody over my little brother and I stayed with my dad...and he was always away at work, so I've had to learn to take care of myself. I could particularly cook any meal by the time I was eleven! And my mother lived far away, so I couldn't see my brother whenever I wanted.'

Sora looked sympathetically at him; this was a side of the famous Yamato Ishida she had never thought would exist. 'That must've sucked,' she said softly.

'I've learned to deal,' he replied. 'But when my career break came along, I thought it would be great to be a famous pop star and have all the money and everything I wanted. God; I was so naive back then!'

'You don't like it...your life now, that is?' she asked, although the answer was looking pretty obvious now.

Matt shrugged. 'Let's just say it's not what I expected it to be,' he replied, choosing his words carefully. 'Yeah, it's cool to have all that money; I could buy whatever I wanted...something I wasn't really able to do back when I was a kid. And a bit of fame doesn't hurt anyone, but...it doesn't offer me a normal life. Now, I rarely even see my father, let alone my bro and my mum, because I'm always on a tour or something else.'

'Oh,' was all she could say.

'It doesn't help in the friends' department, either; people just want to be around me because I'm famous, and that's that...I'm glad I still have my best friend who've I known most of my life,' he said unhappily. He looked up at her. 'I miss school. How is it? What do you do when you're in school?'

Sora stared at him, bewildered, but she decided to go along with him. 'Erm...school's still a normal building with lockers and classroom doors lining the walls. The cafeteria's food still sucks; I swear, today they tried to give me a piece of bread which I wouldn't eat last week because it had this tiny black thing on it, and...' she said, and broke off when she heard him laughing. She frowned. 'What?'

'See, that's why I love you so much; you're not phony like all the other girls I meet,' he told her, and he froze, realizing what he'd said. He saw her blushing, and he looked away, rubbing the back of his neck as he did. 'I probably bored you with all that whining, didn't I?'

Sora smiled at him, trying to act as if nothing had happened. 'No...no, you didn't. In fact, I'm glad you told me all that,' she replied...and she meant it. A customer approached the counter, and she pulled out her notepad. 'Excuse me for a moment, okay? Good evening, ma'am, how may I help you?'

The woman paused for a moment, considering her options. 'I'd like a chicken fillet burger with normal-sized fries and a diet coke,' she finally decided.

'Okay, ma'am, your order will be ready in...' Sora said, but was cut off shortly.

Matt had reached out and had placed a hand over the one which was holding her pen. He squeezed it gently. 'Go out with me, why don't you?' he pleaded.

Sora stared at him. 'Matt, I'm with a customer now! Can't this wait?' she hissed out of the corner of her mouth. She turned back to the woman. 'I'm deeply sorry, ma'am. I assure you your order's going to be ready in a few...'

'Just say yes or no; it wouldn't take more than a moment,' he persisted, and flashed the woman one of his most winning smiles. 'And the kind lady here wouldn't mind sparing you this one moment, would you, madam?'

The woman was caught in the headlights of the smile, and she nodded...almost automatically. 'Of course not!!' she replied, and looked at Sora as if she were crazy. 'Go on, love! Go out with him! He's such a charming young man, can't you see?'

Sora was looking absolutely stumped. She didn't know what she should be saying or doing; she just looked from Matt to her customer, and then back to Matt again. Should she say yes...or no? Her rational mind was telling her to turn him down, that it was too soon to be going out on dates with this guy, but the other part of her, the wild part, wanted to experience how a date with a famous pop star would be.

This was going to be the second time she wouldn't be listening to her rational mind.

'Alright, I'll go out with you.'

Matt just beamed happily at her.

-

By eight o'clock the next day, Matt had pulled his car in front of the traditional Japanese house which belonged to the Takenouchis. He sat in the car for a few moments, with his hands gripping the stirring wheel. He didn't know why he was feeling so anxious about this date; he had gone on many dates before in his life, and none of them had worried him in the very least, so why now? Why was he feeling so nervous about the date with the one girl he thought he really liked?

Sighing, he finally grabbed the bouquet of roses which was lying on the passenger seat, opened the door and climbed out of the car. He slowly made his way towards the front door. He took in a deep breath, reached out and pressed the buzzer. He waited for a few moment, vaguely wondering how Sora would look like when she opened the door. Finally, he heard the definite click of a key turning in a lock, and the door opened.

He held out the bouquet. 'Roses for...' he said, and his voice trailed off when he took a good look at the girl standing in front of him. 'Whoa!!'

The Sora he was looking at looked nothing like the cashier girl he saw at the restaurant every day. The cashier girl wore a plain white t-shirt and no make-up, and had her short hair tied back, but Sora now...she was looking absolutely stunning. She was wearing a tight dress of a shimmering, periwinkle blue, which reached a bit above her knee. Her hair was let down and combed till it looked like shining bronze. She wasn't wearing a lot of make-up; just a slight touch of glossy pink lipstick and blue eyeliner beneath her eyes.

He always thought that those fan girls who followed him around were pretty, but now he realized, after seeing Sora, how ugly they must be without their make-up...since she looked absolutely amazing with, or without it.

Sora was now blushing. 'Hi,' she said softly. She gestured at the roses. 'Are those for me?'

'Wh-what? Oh, yeah,' he murmured, and bowed slightly as he presented her with them. 'Roses for you, my lady.'

She smiled. 'Thank you,' she replied, accepting the bouquet from him. She stepped aside to let him through. 'Would you like to come inside while I put them in a vase and go get my coat?'

Matt paused for a moment; the idea of going inside Sora's house seemed so foreboding...especially since that meant that he might have to meet her parents. He shook his head. 'N-no, it's fine; I'll just wait for you here,' he said quickly.

Sora frowned slightly at him. 'O-kay,' she said slowly. 'I'll be right back, then.'

She left him standing at the door and hurried inside. Matt tapped his foot nervously against the concrete ground, before finally pulling his phone out of his pocket and quickly punched in Tai's number. He waited impatiently as he listened to the rhythmic beat of the phone. 'Dammit, Tai! Pick up!' he hissed, and that's when his friend did pick up. 'Oh, thank God!'

Tai's voice sounded drowsy on the other end. 'What do _you _want?' he said irritably. 'I was sleeping, dammit!'

'Shouldn't you be studying for your exams?' he asked him.

'Wha...? Oh, yeah. I just dozed off back there,' Tai mumbled. 'What the hell are you doing? I thought you had a date with Sora tonight?'

'Yeah! Yeah! I am at her doorstep!' he snapped. 'Mate, you gotta help me out here!! I'm getting the hibbie-jibbies!!'

Tai burst out laughing on the other end, and Matt scowled. 'You're...you're...' he wheezed. 'You're getting the _what?'_

'It's not funny, okay? Teek uses it all the time! It means I'm nervous...or something like that...' he mumbled, and Tai burst out laughing again. 'Stop laughing!! I wouldn't call if this wasn't an emergency! I don't know what I should be doing! I've never been nervous on a date before!!'

'What's this I hear? The famous Matt Ishida doesn't know how to act on a date?' he teased him, and Matt grunted. 'Oh, come on! You gave her a ride before, and that went okay, didn't it? Just be like that and you'll be...'

Matt heard the sound of footsteps coming towards the door, and he panicked. '_Shit!_ She's here!' he hissed, and Tai laughed again. 'Shut up! Hang up! Hang up!'

He ended the call and stuffed the phone back into his pocket, just as Sora came to the door, wearing a beige-colored coat over her dress. He smiled at her, and she just gave him a suspicious look. 'Are you okay?' she asked him. 'I thought I heard you talking to some one.'

He shook his head, and held out his arm for her. 'Shall we go now?' he said pleasantly.

-

**A/N: Yeah...that's it. I know it's shorter than usual, but I didn't want to include the date in this chapter...this way chapter 5 will be solely about the date, and I've got it all planned out already. Anyway, if you did like this chapter, then would you please review? Thanks!!**

_- S. N. B. _


	5. Chapter 5

**D/C: I don't own Digimon...I'd gladly settle for Matt, though.**

**Hello!! I'm back with my fifth chappie!! So sorry for the long wait, but I kinda wasn't in the mood to write, and when I'm not in the mood, most of my writings come out weird and bad, so I thought it would be better not to rush with it. (No, cookies and chips didn't help. Hehe.) But I'm fine now so...enjoy!!!**

**Oh, and thank you all for the very nice reviews!! **

**Chapter 5:**

'Wow. This is...fancy.'

Sora stared around at the restaurant Matt had led her into. It was simply nothing like she'd ever seen before; so stunning with roman pillars and beautiful women playing golden harps, and seating arrangements which ranged from a normal table to creamy-leather love seats with old-fashioned tables. The waiters, too, walked around wearing roman costumes, which looked more or less like short dresses, and Sora had to stifle her laughter when she saw them.

Matt looked around thoughtfully. 'I didn't know they were having a Roman theme this week,' he remarked.

Sora was surprised. 'You mean...they actually change the whole decor every week?' she said, sounding rather incredulous, and he nodded. 'Wow...and I thought the restaurant where I worked was the coolest because we serve really nice smoothies.'

Matt chuckled and squeezed her shoulders gently. 'I still think it's the coolest; it's where I met you, after all,' he remarked. He noticed the awkward moment which passed between them, and he laughed lightly. 'Well, shall we go find our table then?'

He gave the attendant his reserve number, and the latter had a waiter lead them to their table, which turned out to be one of the normal tables, much to Sora's relief; she didn't quite imagine herself and Matt sharing a love seat. She settled down on the chair which the waiter pulled out for her, and Matt sat down across from her. They both remained silent, not knowing what to say to each other. Sora was trying to come up with something to talk about, but she was having a difficult time as it is, adjusting to the fact that she was really on a date with Matt Ishida.

Several moments passed, before a waiter approached their table and handed them each a menu. Relieved that they had found something to do, they quickly grabbed the menus and hid their faces behind them. Sora thought it was good that she had her face hidden, so that Matt wouldn't have to see her bulging eyes; for the prices in this restaurant were...there were no other words to put it, "trés cher".

She gulped; she really didn't want to order any of these expensive meals. It felt really bad, especially since it was Matt who was going to have to pay for the bill. She closed the menu and slowly placed it on the table, before reaching out and taking a sip out of the glass of water a waiter had poured for her earlier.

Matt frowned at her, puzzled. 'What? You're done choosing your dish, already?' he asked.

Sora grinned nervously. 'Yeah...y'know, I'm just going to have another glass of water, I think,' she said quickly, much to his surprise. 'I'm really not feeling that hungry.'

Matt continued to frown at her for a few moments, and then he laughed, much to _her _surprise, this time. 'Okay, I think I know what's going on here, Sora,' he wheezed, and she raised an eyebrow. He smiled. 'Yeah. You think that the food is very expensive and you don't want to order and make me pay all that money.'

Sora was stumped. 'Wow. You can read me like an open book,' she said, apparently impressed. 'Is it because of my dress? Is it too..._revealing? _If you know what I mean?'

Matt laughed again and shook his head. 'It wouldn't take a genius to find out what's going on; it's pretty obvious. Come on, you must've been on enough dates before to know that that excuse wouldn't fool anyone,' he remarked, and she slowly shook her head. 'What, it did fool someone before?'

Sora shook her again. When she spoke again, she was avoiding eye-contact. 'I...I've never been on that many dates; the number of times I've gone out on dates is very minimal; they could be counted on the fingers of one hand, actually,' she said meekly.

Matt stared at her. 'No way! You're kidding me, right?' he finally exclaimed, and she shook her head yet again. 'There's absolutely no way an amazing girl like you hasn't been asked out on a date at least a hundred times up till now! Because I absolutely won't believe it if you said otherwise!'

Sora's cheeks were tinged with pink. 'Well, I have been asked out quite a lot of times, but that doesn't necessarily mean I went out with every single guy who asked me,' she said defensively. 'I'm just too...selective; yeah, that's the word.'

'Well, if that's the case, then I'm honored to be one of the selected few to go out with the one and only Sora Takenouchi,' he said, quietly. He held her gaze for a moment, and Sora had to try her best not to blush. He chuckled. 'Well, shall we order then?'

'But, Matt...everything's just too expensive. I really don't think...' she started, and he quickly reached across the table and touched a finger to her lips, cutting off the rest of her words.

He smiled at her. 'Sora, be a good girl, okay?' he said, rather reproachfully. 'I brought you here, didn't I? So I probably knew that the prices in this restaurant were a bit extreme, right? Frankly, I don't care if I go broke, as long as you and I have a good time together, okay? So stop trying to act so nicely, and order whatever you want. Don't hold back.'

It wasn't until after she slowly nodded her head that he removed his finger from her lips. Sighing, she picked up her menu again and started going through the list of dishes on it, trying to ignore the prices as she did. It wasn't just the matter of picking something; she simply didn't recognize more than half of the meals in there. Squinting at the names, she thought she recognized the meal named "risotto" from Mimi's many dating adventures, and remembered that she had said that it was amazing.

'Right. I've decided,' she told him, and he looked inquiringly up at her. 'I'll have the risotto.'

'Okay, are you sure you know what that is? Because I personally don't know most of the things here,' he said warningly.

Sora laughed. 'Ditto,' she admitted. 'But my friend always told me that the risotto is very nice, and I know for a fact that she's very selective about the things she eat.'

Matt shrugged. 'Well, it's your call,' he replied. He studied the menu for a moment. 'I think I stay on the safe side and order myself a chicken fillet. And for the drinks, will you be having a sherbet? It's non-alcoholic, I promise, and it's very good.'

Sora nodded, and Matt called the waiter over. He ordered, and the waiter noted them down. 'Your order will be ready in a few moments, sir,' he told him, before walking off.

Matt leaned forward towards her, folding his arms against the table. 'Well, that being covered...let's talk now,' he suggested, smiling at her.

'Well, okay, sure,' she agreed, involuntarily leaning away from him. 'What do you want to talk about?'

Matt frowned. 'For starters, why don't you talk about the reason you always try to keep taking a step back away from me whenever I take a step towards you?' he said accusingly, and she opened her mouth to protest, but he simply pointed at her sitting position. 'Don't try to deny it. Look at you; when I leaned forward, you leaned back. Would you care to explain, please?'

Sora could feel her cheeks warming up; this was some way to start a conversation! She massaged her temples. 'Listen, Matt, it's nothing personal, alright?' she told him. 'I...I don't deal well with intimacy and such. I've tried to avoid that feeling almost my whole life.'

'Is that why you rarely ever date?' he inquired, and she nodded. 'Why, though? Why would a wonderful girl such as yourself be afraid to have a sense of closeness and intimacy in her life? You could have any guy you want, but you still don't want to be involved in a relationship. Why's that, Sora?'

Sora looked like a deer caught in the front headlights of a car. She finally clamped her mouth, which was slightly open, shut, and scowled at him. 'You think you know me so well, don't you, Matt?' she said, with an edge to her voice. 'Well, you don't. I barely even know you, so please don't go asking me such questions and expect to have them answered. Are we clear?'

Matt didn't flinch. 'Crystal clear,' he said quietly.

They remained silent after that, and Sora was getting really fidgety. She was wishing that they would bring the food quickly so that they could eat and leave the place. As if her wish had been granted, a waiter approached their table with a food trolley. Quietly, he placed the dishes and the drinks before them, and then he turned on his heels and wheeled the food trolley away.

Matt picked up his fork and knife. 'Bon appetite,' he said quietly.

'Thanks,' she replied, just as quietly. 'You enjoy your meal, too.'

Sora picked up her spoon and looked down at the so-called risotto, and saw that it was simply white rice, with tiny pieces of chopped vegetables and what looked like fish. She gingerly took a spoonful and placed it inside her mouth. She chewed for a few moments, and then she swallowed. She looked up and saw that Matt was watching her.

'Don't you know that it's rude to watch people while they're eating?' she scolded him.

'I was just wondering if it's good, because if it isn't, I'll order something else for you,' he replied, quietly.

'Oh? Oh!' she said, and blushed faintly. 'N-no. It's really nice. Thank you.'

Matt nodded and went back to his fillet. Slightly embarrassed, Sora took another spoonful of her risotto and stuck in inside her mouth. But even as she chewed, she could feel that something was wrong. She swallowed...but this time she found that it was more difficult for her to do that...as if her food tube was swelling up or something. She dropped her spoon, and it fell to the table with a clatter, and put her hands to her throat.

Matt looked up at her again. 'Sora, are you alright?' he asked, sounding concerned. 'Does the food taste bad?'

She shook her head vigorously. 'N-no!' she gasped. 'I think...there was something...in the risotto! I think I'm having an allergy attack!'

'Wh-what? Are you sure?' he cried out. He got up to his feet and hurried over to her side of the table. He puts his hands around her shoulders and squinted down at the plate before her. 'Er...Sora, would you happen to have crab allergy?'

'Crabs?' she yelped. 'Yes! I have...crab allergy!'

Matt looked panic-stricken. He looked around frantically for help, while Sora doubled over her knees, gasping for breath. 'Hey! You!!' he yelled, waving frantically at a waiter, and the latter pointed, confused, at himself. 'Yes! You! Go get your supervisor! This miss is having a crab allergy attack!'

The waiter's eyes widened and he hurried off to get some help. All around them, people were standing up to have a look at them, and this really didn't help Sora out. It sucked enough that her face was swelling up and that she wasn't able to breath properly, and now people had to watch as well? And Matt, too?

Matt was kneeling next to her now, looking anxiously up into her face. 'Oh, Sora, I'm so sorry; it's all my fault for bringing you here in the first place,' he murmured, taking both her hands. 'I'm really sorry; I should've probably asked you if you had allergy to foreign meals and if anything happens to you, I'll just never forgive myself and...what?'

Sora was shaking her head furiously. 'Matt?' she managed to say.

'Yes?' he said eagerly.

'Shut up!' she snapped.

-

'Well, I gotta say this...I've never, in my few other dates, had a date which went _this _bad.'

'Yeah, I really screwed up this one, didn't I?'

Matt sighed and buried his face in his hands. They were both sitting on a bed in a hospital ward, having rushed there after the restaurant manager panicked and didn't know what to do to help Sora. Those moments in the car had been the worst in Matt's life; he could remember Sora sitting on the passenger seat next to him, becoming more red and swelling up by the second. Then he remembered the way he was acting...he didn't think he had ever been more terrified.

_'Sora, hold on! We're gonna make it! Please stay with me, okay? Please, Sora!! Please don't die!' _

Whenever he remembered that, he felt his face becoming red with embarrassment; when did he become such an unbelievable dram queen? "Please don't die?" Sora was right; he did right crappy songs; where else would he get all these things from?

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked up to see Sora peering into his face. She was looking much better now; she wasn't swollen anymore and she was able to breath properly, but there were still a few pink blotches on her arms and face, for which the doctor had already prescribed an ointment and told her she was free to go. She was smiling at him now.

He frowned. 'Why are you smiling?' he asked. 'Is that your famous pitying smile or something like that?'

She frowned at him. 'No! No, Matt; this was _not _my _famous pitying smile_!' she snapped, holding up quotation marks when she said the last three words. She folded her arms against her chest. 'No; this was my friendly smile! This was my smile which says: Don't beat yourself about it; because I had fun, actually! You know what, Matt, maybe if you come down from your throne of fame and glory, you will find out that not all the people out there are hypocrites! That some of them really want to be with you for who you are!'

Matt didn't say anything; it was remarkable how much impact a few words could have on a person. He didn't feel like he could even look the girl in the eye.

'I'm sorry,' he said softly.

'This was just a bad idea from the beginning,' she mumbled. 'Just...take me home, okay?'

Matt nodded silently. They both slipped off of the bed, pulled on their coats and headed out of the room. They walked in silence, and Matt kept stealing glances in her direction to see if she was still looking upset...which she was. He sighed; he knew that he had completely blown it with the one girl he really cared about. She probably hated him more than before now, and that really sucked. But what sucked more, what really bugged the crap out of him, was that the date could've still turned out okay if he hadn't gone and opened his mouth back in that room.

'You know, Sora...' he started.

'Eeek!!! It's Matt Ishida!!!'

They both looked around, and Matt's jaw nearly dropped. There, down the corridor, was a bunch of high school cheerleaders, full with their chipper moods and skimpy cheerleading uniforms, and they were both jumping around and pointing at him. Matt reached out and took her hand, and slowly started to pull her back.

'Cheerleaders are the most dangerous things to singers...next to tabloid reporters, of course,' he said quietly.

'Well, I'm not a singer,' she said, frowning. 'What does this have to do with me?'

'Cheerleaders are even more dangerous when it comes to any girl they see with a singer,' he whispered, and he could feel her tense up underneath his grip. 'So...on the count of three, we turn around and run, okay?' Sora nodded quickly. She eyed the girls worriedly, who had now stopped jumping around and were watching her suspiciously. He squeezed her hand gently. 'Alright, let's do it. One, two, three! Run!'

They made a run for it, but they could still hear the thundering of footsteps behind them. Still holding hands, they ran towards the exit, and then rushed towards the parking lot. Matt quickly unlocked his car and they both climbed inside. Just as they were pulling out of the parking lot, they saw the girls heading for their cars as well. So, when he hit the road, he had a tail of three cars following him.

'They're crazy!' Sora cried out, looking around frantically at them. .

'Well, they _are_ cheerleaders, after all,' he pointed out.

Sora noticed that Matt was heading out into the city, and her house wasn't there when she last checked. 'Where are you going?' she demanded. 'I told you I want to go home!'

'Oh, for God's sake, Sora! I can't take you home now!' he shot back at her, and she looked rather affronted. 'Look, we can't have them know where you live. The last time my fans found out where a girlfriend of mine lived, they had her house egged, and gave all sorts of wrong information off to the tabloids. No, we're going somewhere safe.'

Sora didn't ask any more questions, and that was just fine with Matt, because, between crazy cheerleaders and a pissed off date, he didn't feel like he could deal with anything else at the moment. He could hear the cheerleaders screaming behind them ("Yamato!! We love you! We! Love! You!!") and wondered where the police patrol when you needed them. When he saw his apartment building come into view, he let out a sigh of relief.

He quickly pulled up in front of the building, and gestured for Sora to come with him. He handed the keys to the guard who was standing at the door. 'Take my car to my parking space later, and whatever you do, don't let any cheerleader come into the building, okay?' he said in a rush, and the guard just nodded, apparently bewildered.

Matt grabbed Sora's hand and pulled her inside. He hurried her to the elevator and jabbed impatiently at the button until it reached the ground floor. They took it up to the fifth floor, and there Matt led her over to apartment number 500. He unlocked the door and bowed Sora inside.

However, Sora didn't seem to be willing to go inside. Instead, Matt took a few steps back as she slapped him. He stared, stunned, at her. 'Sora, what...?' he said.

'You bastard!! What the hell do you take me for?' she yelled at him. 'I'm not some cheap hussy you can bring to your apartment! I should've known this all along!! I should've known you would do something like this!! I hate you!'

'Please, Sora, it's not what you think,' he pleaded.

'It's not what I think? _It's not what I think_? Matt, you've brought me here to your apartment when we could've gone and hid anywhere else!! What am I supposed to think?' she snapped. 'All you ever wanted from this date was to get laid! That's all!'

'Oy! What's the big idea? Some of us are trying to sleep here!'

Matt looked around frantically as doors down the corridor opened and people looked out angrily at them. 'Sorry! Sorry for the disturbance!' he apologized. He quickly covered Sora's mouth with his hand and started to pull her inside despite her struggles. 'We'll keep it quiet! Good night!'

He managed to get her inside and closed the door. That's when she bit his hand. 'Ow!!' he yelped, and she broke free out of his grip.

'Let me out,' she hissed.

Blowing on his hand where she bit him, he looked up at her. 'Sora, please, let's talk,' he said, trying to sound reasonable. Sora just folded her arms and glared at him. He sighed. _This was **not **going to be easy. _

**-**

**A/N: Done!! So, what did you think? It was bad, wasn't it? Somehow, as I wrote it, I felt like I was making a big mess out of the whole thing, wasn't I? (sigh) But, at least, it was longer this time. Anyway, if, by any chance, you did like it, then would you please review? I'd really appreciate it. **

_- S. N. B. _


	6. Chapter 6

**D/C: I don't own Digimon.**

**Hello!!! Wow! It's been ages since I last updated, huh? Well, you'll have to excuse me since I'd given away my PC for fixing and I only just got it a few days ago. So sorry!!! Ah, well, anyway, thank you all for the incredibly nice reviews (I touched fifty! Yay!!)…and now, without further ado, I'll leave you to read my sixth chapter!! Enjoy!!**

**Cashier Girl**

**Chapter 6:**

'Explain.'

Matt sighed. He really didn't know how he would be able to convince Sora that his intentions had been innocent, and that he really hadn't brought her to his apartment so he could get her laid or something like that…especially since Sora didn't really look like she was going to believe him, no matter what he said. What more, he didn't know how to deal with a girl who had just slapped him; no girl had ever slapped him before.

'Okay, why don't you have a seat first?' he suggested, gesturing at the leather couch behind her, and she scowled at him. 'Sora! Please! I swear I'm not trying to do anything funny!'

Still glaring at him, Sora sat down on the couch, but shot him a menacing look when he tried to sit next to her, so he just took to standing in front of her. 'I want to know why you brought me to your apartment of all places,' she demanded. 'We could've gone anywhere to escape those cheerleaders, but we still came here. Why?'

'Think about it, Sora; I already told you that if we went to your place, it would get targeted by all my fan girls, and if we went to a public place, they would've easily managed to come after us,' he told her. 'My apartment building was the first place I could think of that had proper security. If those girls had tried to come after us, the security guard would've been granted the permission to call the police on them.'

Sora watched him closely, still looking doubtful.

'You have to believe me, Sora; I swear I would never do anything to hurt you! Or hurt any girl at that matter! I'm not that type of guy; I already told you that!' he said, pleadingly.

Sora hesitated for a moment, and then she sighed and shook her head, apparently resigned. 'Okay, fine; I believe you,' she muttered. She folded her arms across her chest and leaned back on the couch. 'So, what do we do now? Wait for the girls to go away and then you'll take me home?'

'Sure,' he agreed. He smiled at her. 'But since we're waiting, why not make it enjoyable?'

Sora started. 'Matt…' she said warningly.

Matt laughed. 'Know what I like about you? You always manage to think the worst of me,' he teased her, and she blushed, obviously embarrassed. 'What I meant was, we could order a meal, and sit and have a little friendly conversation on the balcony. I've got the most amazing view from here!'

Sora nodded. 'Well, that sounds nice,' she admitted.

He grinned. 'And then, if you like, you could have a go at my piano,' he offered, and her eyes widened. He gestured at the piano which was situated behind the couch she was sitting on. 'It's still new; I really haven't used it that much, so it should be to your liking.'

He watched silently as she got up from her seat and walked slowly, almost cautiously, towards the piano. She trailed her fingers over its smooth surface and then lifted the lid. She sat down on the seat before the piano, and tried out the keys for a bit, before playing a quick melody.

She turned around to face him, beaming. 'Matt, this piano is incredible!! It's so much better than the one in the café!' she exclaimed. She looked back at it again. 'It really is _so_ beautiful!'

'You like it?' he asked.

Sora looked incredulously at him. 'Are you kidding? It's amazing; I love it!' she exclaimed. 'I'm green with envy now; you're so lucky to have a piano like this!'

'You can have it,' he told her.

Sora stared at him, and then she laughed uncomfortably. 'Don't be silly, Matt; I can't take this piano,' she told him. 'I don't have the money for it to begin with.'

He frowned at her, and came up close to her. 'Who said anything about payment, Sora?' he asked her. 'I'm giving you this piano as a gift. It's a gift from me to you.'

Sora didn't say anything for a moment. She started to get up from the seat, but he placed his hands on her shoulders firmly, and pushed her back on it again. Then he sat down next to her, and started playing the "Moonlight Sonata", and he gestured for her to join him. After hesitating for a moment, Sora joined in, and started playing the notes with the higher pitch. Neither said anything to the other while they played.

Sora's arm kept brushing against his, and it gave him a slight shiver whenever it did. He looked around at her; she looked so beautiful, and that look of deep concentration on her face while she focused on her notes made her look all the more appealing. But he had promised himself that he wouldn't rush things with her, because she was so much more different than the other girls he'd already met. However, he wasn't even sure about whether she would want to continue with this relationship or not, especially after what had happened this night.

'Matt, are you okay?' she said suddenly. 'Your notes are all wrong.'

Matt realized with a blush that he had paid for these few moments which he had spent watching Sora, since his playing had become simply a jumble of notes with no correct timing or sequence. He quickly withdrew his hands to his lap, carefully avoiding her gaze. 'Erm…I'm just hungry,' he murmured. _Lame! Lame!_ He fumbled with the edge of his shirt. 'Shall we order then?'

Sora laughed. 'Okay! Let's order!' she agreed. Then she added in a darker tone, 'And this time, make sure there are no crabs!'

'Don't worry; I really don't want to have to go through the whole allergy process again, myself,' he retorted. He went and picked up his cordless phone. 'So, how does McDonald's sound?'

She smiled. 'McDonald's sounds just about perfect,' she replied.

Within another twenty minutes, they had set up the table on the balcony, and were both wolfing down their second burger each. They had ordered ten burgers in total, and Matt had challenged her to a bet to as who would be able to eat the most burgers.

Matt swallowed down the bite in his mouth. He grinned at her. 'I gotta tell you this, Sora; I've never seen a girl eat the way you're doing now,' he teased her.

Sora wagged a finger in his face. 'I know what you're doing,' she replied. 'You're trying to get me self-conscious so that I'd slow down while eating and then you'd win the whole bet! Well, fat chance, buddy! Because I've never lost a bet before in my whole life!'

'Oh, you have?' he replied. 'Well, you're going to have to try a little bit harder, because I'm not about to lose a bet either…especially to a girl.'

But, by the time they'd both reached their forth burger, they were both feeling too full to eat anything else. Sora put down her burger and held her hands up in a surrender gesture. Matt squinted at the still untouched forth burger, and with a look of determination, took a bite out of it. He flashed her the victory sign while he chewed, and she rolled her eyes.

'I took one more bite that you did, so that declares me the winner, doesn't it?' he asked, and she nodded, rather grudgingly. 'Okay, so lemme see; we had a bet between us…and according to the bet; I could make you do anything I want for me, right?'

Sora nodded again. 'Although I'm warning you, Matt, if anything weird or funny comes out of that mouth of yours, I'm gonna grab you and throw you off this balcony, okay?' she said warningly.

'Point taken,' he replied. He paused to think for a moment, and then he smiled at her. 'Well, then, would this lovely young lady join me for a movie?'

Sora looked dubiously at him. 'What? You mean, you want me to go to the movies with you? Oh, I dunno about that, Matt,' she said slowly.

'No, no; we don't have to go to the movies,' he told her. 'I have a huge plasma TV in my living room, and I have the widest selection of DVDs you'll find anywhere! We'll just pick out a movie, make some popcorn…' Sora grimaced at that. '…actually, you're right; forget the popcorn. We'll just pop the DVD into the player, sit on the couch, and watch the movie, what do you say?'

Sora pondered this for a moment. In the end, she seemed to decide that nothing bad could come out of watching a movie, so she just grinned and nodded. 'Okay!' she agreed.

-

'Mmm.'

Sora curled up into a tight warm ball, and groped around for her blanket. When she couldn't find it anywhere, she pried her eyes open just a bit, and looked around in search for her blanket. However, when she took in her surroundings, she realized she wasn't in her bedroom; she was in a room filled with modern furniture, and a huge Plasma TV was before her, with the opening screen of some movie shown on it.

Frowning, she realized that the pillow underneath her head wasn't that soft either, and was actually kind of hard. Dreading the worst, Sora slowly lifted her head up, and was able to determine where she was.

'_Shit!!!_'

Matt, whose lap she had been using as a pillow, woke up with a start. He looked around frantically. 'What? What?' he demanded.

Sora was feeling really anxious. 'Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!!' she screamed. She jumped up from the couch, nervously tucking her hair behind her ears. 'What's….what's the time now?'

Matt, who was barely able to open his eyes just yet, squinted at his watch. 'Uh…ten?' he finally said.

'In the morning or at night?' she demanded.

Matt looked around again at his apartment, and the light which was pouring in through the windows. 'My guess would be morning,' he told her.

Sora scowled at him. 'Don't act like you're so smart, okay?' she snapped, and he stared, bewildered, at her. 'Don't you get it? I slept here with you in the apartment last night!! Which means that I didn't go home! Which, therefore, means that my parents would be freaking out by now! Which also means that they will think that I've gone and…and _done something_ with you last night! Oh, I'm in so much trouble!!'

'O-oy! Calm down!' he cried out, holding out his hands as if to ward her off. 'Don't freak out like this, okay? It doesn't suit you.'

'Matt, I think you've failed to notice this, but…I DON'T GIVE A DAMN TO AS WHAT SUITS ME RIGHT NOW!!!' she screamed.

'Sora, you're not thinking clearly now, but we'll just go down to your place and explain the situation to your parents; I'm sure they'd understand what happened,' he said in a quiet, soothing tone.

Sora frowned at him. 'And what, exactly, happened?' she demanded.

'Er…we were watching a movie, but we were so tired and fell asleep right there on the couch,' he told her. He paused for a moment, realizing what she was after. 'Oh, for crying out loud! Don't tell me you're still keeping that up!'

'Keeping what up?' Sora asked, trying, but failing, to appear ignorant to what he meant. He narrowed his eyes at her. 'Well, okay, but I do have the right to have some doubts! How do I know that you haven't tried to do something to me while I was asleep?'

'There's something called as trust, you know,' he retorted. 'And besides, I thought we made it clear that I wasn't intending to try out anything _funny _on you? So, why do you keep coming back to that topic again?'

Sora still looked like she wanted to argue, but she just sighed and lowered her gaze. 'Just…take me home, would you?' she murmured.

'Wouldn't you like to have some breakfast first, though?' he asked, looking mildly surprised.

'Matt!!'

Sora didn't even give him the chance to freshen up, and she just dragged him out of the apartment, but not before he had grabbed some chocolate-chip cookies and coke for them to down on the way – not what you may call a nutritious breakfast, but still…

When the security guard had drove the car up to them, there were several streaks of lipstick on the windshield saying stuff, "I love you, Yamato!!" and "Will you marry me?"…along with several phone numbers. Matt had casually gotten into the car and cleaned the whole mess off with the wipers, before he set off out on the road.

'Did you ever actually try calling one of those numbers?' Sora asked, out of curiosity, as she popped open her coke.

'Why bother? If the girl's crazy enough to write her phone number in bright fuchsia lipstick on a guy's windshield, she's not exactly worth knowing, is she?' he replied, and she nodded in agreement. He looked at her, bemused. 'You wouldn't happen to have scribbled your phone number on some guy's windshield before, would you?'

Sora stared at him in horror. 'Of course not!' she cried out, swatting his arm. 'What the hell do you take me for?'

'Kidding! Just kidding!' he said, laughing.

Within another ten minutes, they had pulled up before Sora's house. Sora looked anxiously at the house, feeling, somehow, that it was looking very foreboding. She gripped the door handle so tightly her knuckles were becoming white.

'Well, this is it,' she murmured.

'Do you want me to come up to the door with you?' he asked her, eyeing the house warily.

Sora looked from him to the house, and then back to him again. 'Yes, please,' she said, smiling weakly, for even though she knew that bringing Matt along with her to the door would cause a bit of commotion, but it gave her a sense of comfort to have him at her side when that happened.

They both stepped out of the car, and started walking slowly towards the door. Sora was feeling very tensed up, and Matt seemed to have noticed that, because he had reached out and took her hand in his. Sora looked up at him, startled, but he just gave her an encouraging smile.

'You'll be okay,' he assured her.

Sora wasn't so sure about that, because, even before they had reached the door, it had been slid open and her mother was standing in the doorway, arms crossed against her chest, while her foot tapped the floor impatiently. Her face wore the unmistakable mask of anger…and that was something, because her mother was always calm and collected.

'Good morning, mom,' she said, in what she hoped was a brave and confident tone.

'Good morning?' her mother repeated. '_Good morning_? How the hell can it be a _good_ morning, young lady? Do you realize how worried you were about you? Staying out of the house till morning, without even calling to tell us where you would be…and then you come back home with some…some guy!! And you still think it's a good morning?'

Sora noticed that her mother was eyeing Matt with a mixture of disgust and hatred. She knew she should probably withdraw her hand away from his, but she just held on. 'Mother, this is Matt…I told you about him, remember?' she said conversationally.

'I don't give a damn about who he is!! All I care about is that you went and spent the night with him, doing God knows what!' she snapped.

Sora felt affronted. 'Mom, I didn't do anything! If you think that I stayed out of the house all night because I was sleeping with Matt, then you can think again, because nothing of that sort happened!' she exploded. 'Tell her, Matt!'

'That's true, ma'am; me and your daughter did not…' Matt said politely.

'Oh, shut up, you!' Mrs. Takenouchi snapped at him, and Matt clamped his mouth shut, looking terrified. 'Sora, do you honestly think I'm going to believe anything this guy says? I know who he is; he's a singer! His types live to have sex with girls like you!'

'Mom, please!!' Sora said, agitated. 'Don't speak about him like he's not here!! Matt didn't do anything to me!! He didn't even kiss me, even though I was sleeping the entire time!!'

'Ha! So you were sleeping!' her mother said, sounding triumphant.

'Yes! Yes! We were watching a movie in Matt's apartment…' she said.

'His apartment?' she repeated, appalled.

'Yeah, we were followed around by some fan girls, and we had to go somewhere safe, and…oh! You wouldn't understand!' she huffed. She clasped Matt's hand with both of her hands now. 'We. Didn't. Do. Anything. And if that's not good enough for you, then I don't care.'

Matt seemed to have broken out of his fear, because he had put an arm around Sora's shoulder, and turned to face her mother. 'Mrs. Takenouchi, your daughter is such an amazing girl…I can honestly say that I've never met anyone like her in my whole life…and I'm not going to ruin my chances with her for some stupid desire of mine. I really like her, and would never even dream of hurting her. You have to believe me.'

Mrs. Takenouchi watched the pair of them for a moment, and Sora could feel a storm brewing up. 'That would be fine, Matt. Thank you for bringing my daughter home,' she said solemnly. 'Sora, get inside.'

Sora pulled her hand away from Matt's, and obediently crossed the threshold into the house. She gave Matt a small wave before her mother closed the door. Then, before her mother could say anything else, she had kicked off her heels and turned and marched straight to her room.

'Sora, we're not finished yet,' she called after her.

'Whatever,' she muttered.

'What was that?' her mother shouted. 'What did you say?'

But Sora had already gotten to her room. She went inside and slammed the door shut behind her, blocking out her mother's shouts. Sighing, she shrugged off her coat and hung it on the clothes' rack, and then she threw herself on the bed, hugging Mr. Whiskers, her faithful teddy bear since first grade, to her.

_This is it. My dating life is officially over._

Suddenly, she heard a knock…which distinctively sounded like it was coming from her window. She slowly raised herself up from the bed and looked around, only to see Matt standing there at the window, smiling and waving at her. Dropping Mr. Whiskers, she scrambled off of the bed and hurried forward to the window. She pulled it open.

'Oh, my God! Matt, what are you still doing here? My mom will totally kill you if…' she hissed.

But her words were cut short as Matt leaned forward through the window and kissed her…and not on the cheek like the last time…no; he was kissing her full on the lips. Her eyes widened in shock, and she attempted to pull away, but he placed his hands around her shoulders and pulled her back to him. So, she gave in…after all, why fight a good thing?

When they broke apart, they were both blushing.

Matt grinned at her. 'The date's not officially over until the guy kisses the girl,' he told her, and she smiled. 'And that kiss, my dear, was totally worth all the trouble. Well, see you!'

He turned away, and waving, he made his way back to the car.

Sora, on the other hand, couldn't get herself to stop smiling. _You're right, Matt; it was totally worth it…_

**-**

**A/N: Done!!! Oh, wow! I feel like that was the best chapter I ever wrote, wouldn't you agree? It was just too sweet!! A very good way to make up for the horrible date!! Well, anyway, if you did like it, then would you please review? Oh, and wait for my next chapter!!**

**Ja ne!!**

_- S. N. B._


	7. Chapter 7

**D/C: I don't own Digimon.**

**(looks guilty) H-hello!! Well, it's been a while since I last updated, hasn't it? I'm really so sorry! I got caught up in this Harry Potter site for the last three months, and then I had some really important exams... Well, anyway, never mind that, I'll leave you now to read the 7th chapter. Enjoy!!**

**Chapter 7:**

Sora had always prided in having a family which supported each other no matter what its members did, but those members who were sitting at the table right now certainly didn't look supportive. She tried to ignore the condensing glares of her mother and father, while calmly buttering her toast. She had managed to avoid confrontation with her parents by going to work and not returning until very late at night; she even stayed back and helped in cleaning, much to the guys' surprise.

But it was Monday today, and she was bound to see them before she went to school. But so far, they seemed to have taken a certain liking to keeping their silence, which really didn't bother her at all, since it left her to have her breakfast in peace.

Finally, her mother cleared her throat. "Sora, we've put off the subject longer than necessary, and I believe we should talk about it now," she said, sharply.

Sora put down her knife and fork. "Yes, I believe we should," she replied.

Mrs. Takenouchi looked irked at her daughter's reply. She quietly took a sip from her tea before looking up again. "You are well aware of yesterday's events," she told her. "Going out with a boy and not coming back until the morning. Your dad and I have given you a good deal of freedom, but to have you go out and exploit it like that..."

"Mom, Matt and I did not do anything!" Sora said, with an edge to her voice. "You should know me better than this! I would never sleep with a guy! You know it's not my way of doing things! And I have just met Matt! You think I'm going to sleep with him just because he's a rock star, or something?"

"Don't raise your voice on your mother, Sora," her father scolded her, and Sora lowered her gaze. "It's not that we don't trust you, but the excuse you gave us was just too ridiculous for us to believe. You fell asleep in his apartment while watching a movie, and you insist that nothing happened?"

"Yes," she deadpanned. "We couldn't have lunch outside because we were attacked by a mob of cheerleaders, so Matt took me to his apartment so we can hide for a while, and during this 'while', we ordered some food, and watched a movie. But, we were so tired, we just fell asleep right through that."

"Tired?" Mrs. Takenouchi echoed, her eyebrows raised.

Sora flushed. "Well, we sort of got into a bit of trouble in the restaurant," she murmured.

Her mother's eyebrows shot up even further. "Trouble?"

She sighed in exasperation. "Mom, I know what you're thinking, and I should tell you this: Matt and I did not drink at the restaurant last night," she said crossly. "It's just…we ordered this dish and it had crabs in it, and you know how allergic I can get when it comes to crabs. So Matt rushed me to the hospital…"

"The hospital!" her mother cried out, clutching on to her husband's arm.

Sora was getting irritated with the one-word responses. "Yes, mom, the hospital," she said through gritted teeth. "We went to the hospital, and I got my shot, and we stayed there for a while till I got better. But as we were about to leave when we got bombarded by those cheerleaders, and we had to make a run for it."

Her father slammed a hand against the wooden surface of the table. "And why not bring you here? Home, where you can be safe?" he demanded.

"It may be difficult for you to believe this, dad, but Matt was actually being concerned about my welfare," she said, at which both her parents shot her a questioning look. "He was just worried that the cheerleaders might follow us here, and then I'd be a target for their hassling. His apartment was the safest place because it had security."

Mr. Takenouchi sighed wearily. "Right, okay," he muttered. "Sora, sweetheart, why didn't you _call_ us yesterday to tell us about this? I imagine Matt does have a phone at his apartment?"

Sora faltered. "I…I forgot, I'm sorry," she said, looking away. "But, dad, I didn't have any intentions of staying over at his apartment! We had agreed that he'd take me home after the movie was over, but…well, we fell asleep. Dad, I swear, I didn't do anything wrong," she added, when she saw that he was still looking rather uncertain.

She watched him anxiously, waiting for his reply. Even her mother seemed to be observing her husband – obviously, if he said it was okay, then she didn't have any other saying in the matter, and she didn't want that. He was, however, saved the trouble of saying what was on his mind when the doorbell rang, making them all jump.

Wondering who on Earth would come knocking at their door so early in the morning, Sora got up to her feet. "I'll…I'll go see who's there, shall I?" she said, before hurrying out of the kitchen.

She was rather relieved to have their conversation interrupted by the bell; the tension had been a bit unbearable back there in the kitchen. Sighing, she slid the door open. A man in over-alls stood in the doorway, holding a clipboard in his hands.

"How may I help you?" she said politely.

The man squinted at his clipboard. "You can help me if you're called Sora Takenouchi," he said, and looked expectantly at her.

"Erm…yes, I am Sora," she replied.

"Good, good," he said, nodding. He looked around, and Sora found herself looking over his shoulder, noticing for the first time the lorry that was parked outside her house. "Right, boys! Bring it out!"

"W-wait, bring what…?" she started, but faltered when she saw two men carrying a piano out of the lorry. She blinked for a couple of moments. "Excuse me! This piano is not mine! I don't remember buying any piano, there must've been a mistake!"

The man gave her an odd look. "You _are_ Miss Takenouchi, aren't you?" he asked, and she gave a meek nod. "Well, then, I'm afraid there's no mistake. Mr. Ishida asked us to deliver this piano to you." He turned back to the two men. "Careful with it!"

Sora stared at him. "Oh, God…he wasn't kidding," she murmured, more to her self than to the delivery man. She sighed wearily, and massaged her forehead. She, then, tapped the man's shoulder. "Excuse me, sir; do you have a number where I can reach Ishida?"

"Yeah, I do," he replied, frowning at her. He pulled out a cell phone from his pocket, and dialled a number, before handing it to her. "Funny you shouldn't have his number, when he's going through all the trouble just to send you a piano."

She gave him a wintry smile. "We haven't known each other long enough for that," she replied, taking the phone from him. She pinned it to her ear and moved away from the man further into the house, while the rhythmic beat of the phone sounded in her ear. Finally, there came the definite click of the phone being picked up.

"Hello!"

"Matt, you idiot! What the hell are you doing, sending me a piano?" she snapped. "Don't you realize that's probably going to get me in…to…Matt?"

She paused when she realized Matt had continued to talk even when she was speaking. He was now saying, "…at the moment. If you'll just leave a message, I'll try to get back at you as soon as possible. Ja ne!"

There was a beep, and Sora gritted her teeth. _Of course, it's the bloody answering machine._ She sighed. "Look, Matt, it's very sweet of you to send me a piano, but I can't possibly keep it," she said gently. "I'll just ask the delivery people to take it back to you, alright? And…thank you, really; I appreciate it."

As she hung up, her father poked his head out through the kitchen door. "Sora, who's at the door?" he asked.

"Um…just a salesman, dad," she replied. "Don't worry, I'll send him off."

Her dad returned to the kitchen, and she hurried back down the hall to the front door. The man was still standing there, and she returned the phone to him.

"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to return the piano; I don't want it," she told him, smiling apologetically.

"What? No, no; we had orders to deliver this piano to your house, and we were told to not take no for an answer," he replied. "So unless you want to lose me my job, I'm afraid I can't return it."

"But…what am I supposed to do with it?" she said shrilly.

The man shrugged. "Play some tunes, I guess," he told her. "Look, I don't care what you do with it; I'm only the delivery man, after all."

Sora just watched helplessly as they hauled the piano inside the house, and played it underneath the window in the living room. It was lucky her mother was using the blender in the kitchen, for it covered the noise of all the scuffling and scrapping. It was only when the three men had left and the lorry had pulled out onto the road that they both came out of the kitchen, with odd looks on their faces.

"You bought a piano…from a salesman?"

-

"Are you sure it's wise, letting her talk to your answering machine?"

Matt pressed the REPLAY button on the answering machine, and relaxed back onto the couch, while listening to Sora's voice – angry at first, but gradually becoming calmer. He gave his friend, Tai a reassuring grin.

"Of course it is," he replied. "If I did answer that call, she would've yelled her head off at me, and then would've reduced me to agreeing to take back the piano, which, of course, I do not want. This way, she'll be forced to keep the piano, because I made sure the delivery people refuse any return pleas from her."

They were both sitting in Matt's apartment, wolfing down a fresh-from-the-bakery croissant basket that had just arrived in the mail from an elderly fan. Matt had a huge grin stretched across his face, as he tried to visualize the expression on Sora's face when she found out what he'd done for her.

"That's really smooth, Matt," Tai remarked. "Although, if I may say something…what, exactly, are you planning to do when you meet her and she starts yelling at you to take the piano back, and you realize that you don't have an answering machine and delivery men to watch your back?"

The grin slowly slipped off of the blonde's face, and he sat upright on the couch. He scowled at his friend. "That's right, Tai," he drawled. "Just when I'm happy and elated, you are sure to come and spoil my mood with some farfetched ideas."

Tai looked indignant. "They're not farfetched!" he protested. "I'm just telling you the reality of things, but you are obviously trying to weasel your way out of it! I mean, you are going to have to face Sora sooner or later, unless…you are not planning to see her anymore?"

Matt mouthed silently like a goldfish taken out of the water, before regaining the control over his verbal skills. "Are you flipping?" he snapped. "I could never not want to see Sora again! She's probably the most amazing girl I've ever met! I'm not letting her go now that I've finally got her a teeny weeny bit interested in me!"

Tai didn't flinch; he just folded his arms against his chest and observed his friend calmly. "Fine, tell me what strategy you are planning to follow once you see her again," he said.

The young pop idol got up to his feet and started pacing around the room, while the brown eyes of his faithful best friend and advisor followed him. Never before in his life did the idol find himself in a situation where he didn't know how to act around girls. He had always been the charming, smooth and attractive gentleman who girls would flock around just to get a single glance out of him. But now, out of the blue, a single girl had stepped out and turned the tables around. He was the chaser now, and she was…well, the "chasee".

Finally, he stopped and faced Tai. "Right, you have to help me with that," he announced.

Tai stared at him, and then burst out laughing, much to Matt's indignation. "Look, mate, you're my best friend and I luv ya and all, but you can be such a blockhead sometimes," he told him. "You don't need me to sort out your love problems for you. You need to work things between you and Sora without any outsider interference, understand?"

Matt frowned. "But…last time, things only worked out between me and Sora because you helped," he protested. "You told me to be myself, and –"

"That wasn't me," Tai interrupted him. "It was you who got things moving. It was your own self. If you were some other self, Sora might've not even given you a second look. Are you following me here?"

Matt nodded slowly. "I guess," he murmured.

"Good. Now…there's still one more thing left to discuss," Tai said, smiling cheerfully, and Matt shot a questioning look at him. "Another demonstration of your _teeny weeny_ verbal skills!"

-

Handing the last customer his order, Sora easily fell back into her thoughts, which were mostly revolving around the brand new piano which was resting in her bedroom, and her shocked parents, who had lost their ability of speech after she had explained where the piano had come from…and how sweet it was of Matt to send her the piano.

Yes, she knew she shouldn't be approving of what he had done, she knew she should've left a dozen messages on his answering machine telling him to come and pick up his bloody piano…but, what seemed to be preoccupying her the most was the fact that no guy had ever done something so nice to her before. She couldn't deny that she had liked the company of Matt during the date, and that kiss he had given her, needless to say, had definitely had its effect on her.

She was feeling rather torn now, between the desire to yell her head off at him for getting her into so much trouble with her parents and the desire to hang out with him and possibly even…kiss him.

"Yo."

Sora was only pulled out of her thoughts when she felt the gentle touch on her lips. Letting out a soft cry, she stumbled back to the floor, wincing.

A familiar face leaned over the counter to peer down at her. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

Sora blinked as Matt extended a hand to help her up. Slowly it came to her, and she slapped his hand away, before scrambling up to her feet. She glared into his hurt-flitting face, while trying to ignore the tingling feeling in her lips. "What's the big idea?" she snapped. "What gives you the right to walk up to the cashier and…and kiss me like that, out of the blue? What part of me tells you that I would've appreciated it?"

Matt frowned at her. "You seemed all okay with it when I kissed you the other day, _out of the blue_," he reminded her.

Sora tried to maintain a dignified expression. "That…that was different," she said firmly.

"In what way was it different?" Matt persisted.

"It was different since you needed to end the date, and the only way to do that was to kiss me," she told him.

Matt rolled his eyes. "You never learn, do you?" he muttered.

"Just like you never learn not to drop surprise pianos at someone's doorstep, when you already know that they're fuming because their only daughter spent the night out without even telling them," she retorted.

He chuckled. "Okay, okay; you win," he said.

"Take it back," she said in authorizing tones.

"Take what back?"

"Take your damn piano back, what else?"

"Are you kidding? I can't take it back! It's a present!"

"Well, I don't want your present. It's causing me trouble. You have to take it back."

"I can't take it back," Matt said resolutely. "The company which delivered it to you has…a none-return policy."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Oh?" she said. "Well, can't you find another company to do the job for you?"

Matt sighed dramatically. "I could, but unfortunately, the folks back at my apartment building don't want me to keep the piano, anyway; they say it's causing too much noise, and they can't sleep," he told her, solemnly. "It was the pits today when those guys moved it across the floor and it made this awful scrapping noise, and the occupants of the apartment downstairs came up and threatened to sue."

Sora stared at him for a moment, and then she laughed. "You're unbelievable," she wheezed. "Do you seriously expect me to fall for that lie?"

"Why…I'm offended that you think I'm lying!" he said in aggravated tones. "Isn't it your restaurant's policy to say that the customer's always right? Well, I'm a customer, and if you don't say I'm right, then…I'm afraid I'll have to talk to your boss about it."

"What? You can't do that!" she exclaimed.

"You'll find that I'm fully capable of suing, Miss Takenouchi," he replied. "So I suggest you say the following: You're right; I'm sorry I doubted you, Yamato."

Sora gritted her teeth. "Why, you…" she seethed.

"Excuse me?" he said, smiling innocently.

Sora sighed. "You're right; I'm sorry I doubted you, Yamato," she muttered. "There! Now, will you take the piano back?"

"Nope," he said, shaking his head. "By admitting I'm right, you have consequently agreed to keep the piano. It's all yours now, my dear."

Sora groaned loudly.

-

**A/N: Right, that's all for this chapter!! Wasn't it sweet of Matt to give the piano to Sora? And I thought it was funny how he talked her out of taking it back, ne? Ah, well, I sure do hope you liked it, because I want reviews! They're one of the things which keep me writing, y'know! **

**Till the next chappie, then! Ja!**

_- S. N. B. _


	8. Chapter 8

**D/C: I don't own Digimon.**

**Hello!! Wow, it's been an awfully long time since I updated, eh? I'm really, REALLY sorry about that, but I do have my excuses, yes: one, I started university…two, I was working on many different stories all at once…three, and most important reason, I had Writer's Block whenever I came to write a chapter for this story.**

**Anyway, I suppose I babbled enough, so I'll let you get on with your reading now, okay? Enjoy!!**

**Cashier Girl**

**Chapter 8:**

It was two minutes to eight right now, and Sora was starting to get nervous. She had actually been nervous throughout the last couple of days, but now that the moment of truth had finally arrived, she had become really jittery.

When she had come out clean with the real source of the piano, since the I-borrowed-it-from-school-for-practice didn't work for long, her parents had remained speechless for a full five minutes, and when they spoke, she wished they remained silent for a while longer, because after her mother and father had exchanged an odd sort of look, her mother had looked at her and said, "Sora, we want you to invite Mr. Ishida over for dinner."

Sora had tried her best to talk him out of it, but apparently, her parents thought that a boyfriend who gave away pianos on a first date was worth investigating. When they made her call him and tell him about it, Sora was hoping she could fake the call and pretend like he made an excuse for not coming, but that couldn't be helped when they made her put Matt on Speaker, and they heard him saying, "Yes! I'd love to come to dinner! Should I bring anything? When do I come? Is it for tonight?"

And that was why she was currently pacing around in the entrance hall, and glancing at the clock that was hung on the wall every few seconds. She didn't want this dinner to be a disaster, and since her parents were very punctual, it would be a very bad start for Matt if he arrived late.

The door bell suddenly rang, making her nearly jump out of her skin. She hurried forward, unlocked the latch, and slid the door open. Matt was standing in the doorway, wearing a casual white suit, with a black shirt underneath. Sora thought he looked very handsome, but she was soon distracted by the bottle he was carrying under his arm.

"Hello, So…" he started.

"You idiot! You brought liquor?" she demanded, cutting off the rest of his words. "I told you not to bring alcohol! What's the matter with you?"

Matt frowned, and held up the bottle so that she could have a better look at it. "This is not liquor," he said in flat tones. "This is the finest quality fruit cocktail, and I thought it would be nice to bring it along for dinner."

Sora faltered. "Oh…right. I'm sorry," she murmured, blushing. He handed her the bottle, and she accepted it. "Thank you. That's very kind of you, Matt."

"That's all the thanks I get?"

She glared at him. "Don't be ridiculous! My parents are here!" she hissed.

Matt pouted. "You're so cruel, Sora," he mumbled. "I almost get you killed by exposing you to crabs, which you're allergic to, and had you followed by a mob of jealous cheerleaders, and then I nearly got you grounded for life by accidentally making you sleep over at my place…and you still refuse to give me a kiss?"

Sora tried in vain to suppress a smile, and she was about to say something in reply, when her father called from the living room.

"Sora! Don't keep our guest waiting at the door!" he said. "Where are your manners? Invite him in!"

Sora sighed. She grabbed his hand and started to pull him inside. "Now, listen here," she hissed. "I don't know what you were thinking when you accepted my parents' invitation, but you'd better be good, alright? If you mess things up, my parents might just never allow me to see you again."

Matt stopped, pulling her back. She frowned at him. "Does that mean…you want to continue seeing me?" he asked seriously.

Sora gazed steadily back at him. "Matt, this is not the time for this, my parents are waiting to meet you," she told him.

"Why can't you just say it?"

"Matt, come on…"

"Sora, is everything okay?" Her father was standing in the hallway now, and was frowning at the pair of them, his eyes lingering on their entwined hands before travelling to his daughter's face. "I thought I heard the two of you arguing."

"No, Dad, we weren't arguing," Sora assured him. "I was just telling Matt to be patient, and that dinner will soon be served. Shall we head for the dining room right away?"

After greetings were exchanged, her father led the way to the dining room, Matt leaned closer to Sora so that she could whisper in her ear, "Did you have to say _that_? You've made me sound like a glutton in front of your father!"

Sora just snickered, and walked after her father without another word. In another couple of minutes, all for of them were settled at the dining table, they said their prayers – a tradition the Takenouchis liked to keep – and dug in.

Her mother had outdone herself a usual. Sora never understood why her mother put so much effort into making food when guests were expected; it wasn't as if the quality of the food told the guests what the person was like…it just told them that she or he was a good cook. Sora didn't mind anyway; she usually had her lunches at the fast food restaurant where she worked, and a well-cooked meal was always welcome to her.

It seemed that Matt was rather enjoying the meal himself, because he kept complimenting Mrs. Takenouchi's cooking abilities all throughout dinner, and it seemed to be working well; she seemed to be thoroughly charmed by him…and they were only midway.

Mr. Takenouchi, however, wasn't following his wife's lenient approach. "So, Mr. Ishida, Sora tells us you're a pop star," he said, matter-of-factly.

Matt put down the piece of steak he was about to put in his moth, and smiled politely at his addresser. "Yes, sir," he replied. "I'm a pop star. It's what I do for a living."

"And how old are you? 19? 20?"

"I'm actually only 17, sir."

Mr. Takenouchi raised an eyebrow. "So that means you haven't even graduated out of high school, doesn't it?" he said; it was more of a statement than a question. "I highly disapprove of those who drop out of school, Mr. Ishida; a proper education is more important than anything else."

"I believe that, too, Mr. Takenouchi, because I haven't dropped out of high school," Matt told him, and Sora looked at him in surprise; she hadn't known that. "Of course, I am home-schooled, because attending a normal school like anyone else would've proved as a great distraction to me."

Her father looked a bit surprised. "Is that so?" he said, and started slicing the steak on his plate. He glanced at his daughter, and nodded briefly. "This steak is very good."

Sora was grinning now. That brief nod told her that her dad approved of Matt; he was always a sucker for those types of people who cared about their education. And her mother…well, her mother had been won over ever since Matt started complimenting her cooking. She hated to admit it, but Matt was really good when it came to buttering up to parents.

-

"Well, that went okay…"

Sora closed the door to her room, and leaned back against it, watching Matt trailing his fingers across the polished wooden surface of the piano. He turned and smiled at her and said, "I see you've kept the piano in your room."

She shrugged. "It seemed the most ideal spot," she replied, walking over to him. "I mean, I could play here without disturbing anyone…and besides, there wasn't much free space around the house for it."

He sat down on the bench and motioned for her to sit next to him. Hesitating for a moment, she sat down. He lifted the lid of the piano and started playing. She listened for a while, and then catching on, she started playing the high-pitch notes. They just sat there, side by side, on that little bench, playing a soft and serene melody. They only seemed to be aware of the music flowing around them…they played with constant rhythm, their fingers moving swiftly over the keys. It all seemed very natural.

Sora was so engrossed in the music; she only barely registered Matt's presence anymore, until his fingers brushed hers. She started, and stumbled over her notes. "Darn," she mumbled.

Matt chuckled. "I'm sorry," he said softly. "I know how much you hate being interrupted."

Letting her hands fall to her lap, she just smiled and shook her head. "That's quite alright," she replied. "Thanks to you, I've had may chances to play…as much as I want. This piano was probably the best gift ever. I really never thanked you enough."

"Aw, shucks, you don't need to thank me. Just seeing you happy like that _is_ enough."

She smiled at him. "You're sweet, Matt," she murmured, her hand reaching up to caress his face. "And you know, those reasons you gave me when you arrived…even they're absolutely ridiculous reasons…they deserve a special thank you. I mean, without them, I would've just passed my day like any ordinary cashier girl."

"You're not like any other cashier girl I've ever met, Sora," he whispered, and he cupped her face between his hands. "You're probably the only cashier girl who went and over-charged me."

Sora laughed, and this time, when he leaned down to kiss her, she didn't try to stop him. She just leaned against him and allowed herself to melt into the tenderness of his kiss. Their arms wrapped around each other, they kissed each other while sitting before their mutual favorite object, the piano, which tinkled merrily as they leaned against it. It might've continued for a while longer, if her mother hadn't called to them for dessert.

Gasping a little, Sora pulled herself away from Matt. She had never let anyone kiss her like that before…she'd usually just pull away after a second or two, but with Matt…well, if she had set a timer, it might've been probably reading three or four minutes now. Matt was different; she felt like she could trust him; he wasn't the type of guy who just wanted to get under her shirt. He was interested in what she had to do and say…and not her looks alone.

He tried to draw her back to him. "I think I'll settle for the dessert I'm currently getting," he said playfully.

She giggled. "Oh, you're terrible," she admonished him. "Where do you come up with those lines?"

He shrugged, and bent down to kiss her lightly. "Yes, but it's a winner line, isn't it?" he teased her. He stroked her hair. "You are so beautiful, Sora. You have to be the most amazing girl I've ever laid eyes on…you're really something special."

Sora blushed. "Matt, I…"

"Sora!!"

She groaned, and Matt released her out of his arms. "Mom surely knows how to ruin a moment, doesn't she?" she mumbled, getting up to her feet. "Are you coming? I think we're having chocolate cake for dessert."

"Sure, let me just wipe your lipstick off of my face. I don't think your parents would be pleased if they found out I was snogging their daughter right under their noses," he said, and she laughed, while nodding her head in agreement.

When she left the room, Matt looked around for some tissue paper, and found a box lying on her bedside cabinet. He leaned down to pull out a couple of tissues, and that's when he found the sheets of paper lying there. He picked them up and saw that they were musical sheets…but like any he'd ever come across. There were lyrics as well, and they seemed rather good. He flipped through the sheets, before coming to the final one, where he saw Sora's signature down at the bottom. He paused a moment, and realized that the signature and the notes were all written using the same green pen. Pondering, he found that those lyrics didn't strike a chord in his memory at all.

Comprehension dawned upon him, and he couldn't believe his eyes. Sora composed her own music? But she never told him…

An idea suddenly struck him. Taking out his cell phone, he quickly photographed the music sheets, and then hurried to the living room, where the Takenouchis were waiting. He stood in the doorway, grinning, and they looked back at him, bewildered.

"Mr. and Mrs. Takenouchi…Sora," he said, winking at her. "I'm throwing a concert next Saturday, and I would be really, _really _glad if all of you could attend. What do you say?"

-

**A/N: Done!! I know; it was shorter than usual, but I'm building up for the final chapter…yes! Chapter nine is the final one! I guess you might have a fair idea what's going to happen in that chapter, eh? (smiles) Ah, well, please review!**

_- S. N. B. _


	9. Chapter 9

**D/C: I don't own Digimon. **

**Hello, everyone, and welcome to my final chapter…hmm, that sounded rather morbid; it's as if I was welcoming you to your death, or summat. **_**Anyway**_**, thank you SO much for the reviews you've sent me on my last chapter, they got me going to finish this chapter quickly. So, I'll leave you to read now. Enjoy!!**

**Cashier Girl**

**Chapter 9:**

"I can't believe we're going! I _really_ can't believe we're going!"

Sora caught her father throwing her an exasperated look through the rear-view mirror, and she just smiled apologetically. She, too, was becoming really tired with Mimi's excited antics. Ever since she had invited her to Matt's concert, Mimi's main choice of conversation had always been centered about that event – what to wear, what shade of lipstick to wear, what brand of shoes should she buy…it was driving everyone nuts. Sora was going to be relieved when this was over.

Furthermore, she couldn't believe that her parents were actually going with her to the concert. They've always hated pop and everything related to it, so their agreeing to go was a bit of a shock for her. Had Matt really that strong effect on both of them? Matt's attitude troubled her, too; why had he been so insistent that they come to this concert in particular? What was so special about it? He had refused to tell her anything whatsoever.

On reaching the stadium were the concert was to be held, Sora and the others presented their VIP tickets at the gate, and were shortly escorted by a security officer through all the loud crowds to their respective seats, which turned out to be next to the stage. They had barely sat down when a brown-haired guy walked up to them, and presented himself as Matt's best friend, Tai Yagami.

"And who might you be?" he asked, as he shook Mimi's hand.

Mimi seemed equally attracted to him as he was to her. "M-Mimi Tachikawa," she said softly. "I'm Sora's best friend."

Tai looked more than ready to ignore everyone else and give his full attention to Mimi, but it seemed then that he remembered something and turned to Sora with a polite smile. "Sora, Matt would like to meet you backstage before the show begins," he told her, and handed her a pass. "Just show them this and they'll let you in."

Feeling rather confused, Sora took the pass, and after asking Tai for directions, she headed off to locate the door leading backstage. She found it quickly enough, and was let in upon displaying her pass. Walking nervously past the hurried casting crew, and the make-up artists, and people who were shouting all sorts of things down the corridor, she finally found Matt sitting in a dressing room, having make-up applied to his face.

"Um…hello," she said.

The artist was now applying mascara to Matt's lashes, and he wasn't able to get up from his chair. "Ah, Sora, come in," he said happily. "I'll be with you in just a minute."

Nodding, Sora walked in and plopped down on one of the empty swiveling chairs. She watched with interest as the make-up artist gently put on lip gloss on his lips, before finishing the whole deal off with a slight bit of blusher. She then excused herself and left the room, closing the door behind her. There seemed to be a frozen pause in the room for a few moments.

"You…erm…use lip gloss?" Sora finally asked.

"Well, you can't have my lips appearing all dry and parched under the spot light, can you?" he replied.

"I understand the blusher, but what about the mascara?" she asked, the corners of her lips twitching.

"It's supposed to bring out the colors of my eyes!" he protested, as she burst out laughing. "Really, I swear! I'll bring her back so you ask her and make sure for yourself!"

Sora clutched at her side, and tried to bring herself to stop. "I'm sorry!" she wheezed. "I just never saw a guy getting his make-up done before! You must understand what a traumatic experience this was for me!"

Matt smiled bemusedly. He got up from his chair and walked over to her. He placed his hands on the arms of her seat and leaned down so that his face was in lever with hers, and she was able to distinctly see the grains of mascara on his long eyelashes. Sora found herself holding her breath as he looked deeply into her eyes.

"We can't have that, now, can we? You must allow me to apologize for making you suffer through this ordeal," he said softly.

Sora was about to reply with an equally playful remark when leaned down and kissed her. His lips felt moist against hers, and she found that she didn't really mind that he had strawberry-flavored lip gloss on. He gradually slid into the narrow chair next to her, whispering words of love to her and showering her with kisses…on her nose, her lips, her neck, the hollow of her collar bone…her lips were just starting to brush against the neckline of her dress when she sharply pulled away.

"Matt…" she said warningly.

She knew she couldn't be too careless with Matt. He was still a pop star after all, and no matter what he said or did, he was used to girls letting him have his way around them. She didn't blame him; it was in his nature. But she wasn't that type of girl. She couldn't let her guard down with him…which was proving very difficult indeed.

Matt smiled apologetically, and eased himself out of the chair. "Of course. I'm sorry," he murmured.

Sora smoothed down her dress. "So, why the sudden invitation?" she said in dignified tones.

Matt's expression brightened. "I'm glad you asked!" he said cheerfully. He strode back to the dressing table and picked up some sheets, which he returned to drop on her lap. "Take a look."

They were music sheets…and not any music sheets. Sora stared in shock at her own lyrics and notes. The ones she used to spend so many hours trying to perfect…and then she looked at Matt. "Where did you get those from?" she said hoarsely.

"Your room, of course," he replied.

"How dare you, Matt? Those sheets are private! You can't just take them without asking for my consent!" she snapped, rising up from her seat.

"I'm sorry, but they were really good to be kept for you alone," he retorted, appearing totally unfazed by her reaction. "Sora, love, this whole concert has been made in honor of you."

"What…what are you talking about?" she spluttered.

"The name of the concert is _Fiery Soul_, which refers to you – the girl whose soul I find so intense and strong," he told her. "The songs which are going to be played today are all dedicated to you. The crowds are all here today to come and see you take the stage with me so that we could, together, play _Heat of Your Passion._"

Sora froze; that song was her most personal creation. "Y-you can't do that," she stammered. "You can't just take my songs and do whatever you want with them! Call it off! Call the whole thing off!"

"What?" he yelped.

"I'll sue, Matt, I swear!" she said, starting to feel rather irrational now. "I'll…I'll say that you stole my lyrics and claimed them to be your own!"

Matt stared at her, baffled. "Sora…" he said.

"_Heat of Your Passion _is personal!" she cried, her cheeks flaming with anger and humiliation, her eyes stung by tears. "I wrote it when I was at the peek of my love! I wrote in on a whim! All my feelings are in that song! My feelings for _you_!!!"

It was Matt's turn to freeze up now. He swallowed. "_I turn you down, I look away, I try to tell my self…I hate you…_" he whispered. "_It is too hard…Your smile draws me back…Your words turn me around…I find that I really…love you?_ It's about me…and you?"

Sora nodded. "Yes!" she cried. "God, you're such an idiot, Matt!"

Matt fell back onto a chair. "You…love me?" he croaked.

Sora blushed. "Wasn't that obvious?" she replied.

"Well, I don't know…between your yelling at me and telling me that you hate me, I didn't know what to think," he retorted, and she gave a shaky laugh. He timidly met her gaze. "Sora…I'm sorry…"

"You should be."

He jumped up from his chair and hurried to her side, cupping her face between his hands. "Let's…let's just forget the concert," he told her. "Who cares about everyone else? Let's go out somewhere…just the two of us."

"You can't just walk out on your concert! What will your fans think?" she demanded.

"At this point, I really don't give a damn," he said firmly.

"Matt…" she said weakly.

"I'll make a few calls, tell them I don't feel so good, and they can cancel the concert…postpone it to some other day," he told her, sounding extremely resolute. "Right now, there's just this one place I want to be at…"

She frowned at him. "Matt, we're not going to your bedroom," she admonished him.

Matt laughed. "You always think the worst of me," he teased her, tweaking her nose. "Trust me on this…"

"Wait…what about you?"

"I told you, I'll be fine. I only need to make a few calls…"

"No, silly," she replied, and blushed furiously. "When a girl tells you that she loves you, is it really polite to leave her hanging around with no obvious reply?"

Matt chuckled, and he swept her into his arms. "Sora, I thought it was obvious," he replied.

"I don't know…between taking me to your apartment, and trying to get under my bra a minute ago, I don't know if you're trying to tell me something, or just trying to get me into your bed," she teased him.

He pouted, but that quickly gave away to a smile. "Sweetheart, you are the only one I could ever tell this…I love you, too."

-

Tai managed to surface long enough for him to see Anthony, Matt's manager, walking onto the stage, with an extremely dejected look on his face. He pointed the stage to his pink-haired companion, and she, too, looked around. Anthony grabbed a microphone, tapped it a couple of times, before starting to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said. "I know we've kept you waiting a lot, and I apologize. I feel I need to apologize even more, because I'm going to have to ask you to go home now. Matt has been struck with a sudden flu bug, and he isn't feeling…or looking well. We've just sent him on his way home to get some rest."

The huge crowds were starting to boo now, and Anthony was forced to particularly shout into his mike.

"Don't worry, though! The concert has just been postponed, and not cancelled!" he hollered. "You can all use your same tickets to attend the concert when it starts! Matt told me to tell you he's very sorry, but he can't sing with his voice sounding like a…banshee, as he liked to put it!"

As the crowds continued to boo, Tai felt a tug on his shirt, and turned to see Sora's parents.

"But what about Sora?" her mother asked anxiously.

-

"A blueberry muffin and an extra foamy cappuccino for me."

"One latte for me, please."

As the awestruck waitress walked away to fetch their orders, Matt and Sora exchanged a quick grin. They were sitting before the piano of the café which Sora always went to. They both looked rather out of place, with Matt in her leather attire and Sora in her fancy-looking dress. Although, Sora had managed to quickly clean Matt's face from all traces of make-up, with the exception of the lip gloss. She had decided on their way here that he was to always wear it when he was with her, at which point Matt had completely let go of the stirring wheel and leaned over to the passenger seat to kiss her, and she had to particularly shove him away.

She smiled at him now. "Matt, you know, you have the best ideas," she told him.

"I know," he replied. He took out a couple of music sheets from his pocket, and placed them in front of them. "Do you want to start off?"

"I'd love to."

She placed her hands on the white keys of the piano, and started to play. She had never played her notes in front of anyone before, and she thought she liked the feeling. Matt joined in with her a couple of moments later, and the pair started playing together. Sora couldn't remember the last time she had been this happy.

…_And as we sit together_

_Playing our melody_

_I can finally stop lying_

_I can finally say…_

_I love you. _

-

**A/N: Done! Weird sort of ending, wasn't it? I didn't want the proposal ending; that's too cliché…especially since that those two have only met about two weeks ago. Oh, yes, the lyrics are mine…at least, I don't think I've ever heard a song with these lyrics! So, yes, this story is finally finished. It took me a while, but it's is really complete now! I've finally rid you of me! Before I close this off, I'd like to thank all those who reviewed my story! Thank you so much!!**

_- S. N. B. _


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